Aerial robots are evolving from avoiding obstacles to exploiting the environmental contact interactions for navigation, exploration and manipulation. A key challenge in such aerial physical interactions lies in handling uncertain contact forces on unknown targets, which typically demand accurate sensing and active control. We present a drone platform with elastic horns that enables touch-and-go manoeuvres - a self-regulated, consecutive bumping motion that allows the drone to maintain proximity to a wall without relying on active obstacle avoidance. It leverages environmental interaction as a form of embodied control, where low-level stabilisation and near-obstacle navigation emerge from the passive dynamic responses of the drone-obstacle system that resembles a mass-spring-damper system. Experiments show that the elastic horn can absorb impact energy while maintaining vehicle stability, reducing pitch oscillations by 38% compared to the rigid horn configuration. The lower horn arrangement was found to reduce pitch oscillations by approximately 54%. In addition to intermittent contact, the platform equipped with elastic horns also demonstrates stable, sustained contact with static objects, relying on a standard attitude PID controller.

翻译：空中机器人正从规避障碍物发展为利用环境接触交互进行导航、探索与操作。此类空中物理交互的一个关键挑战在于处理未知目标上不确定的接触力，这通常需要精确的传感与主动控制。我们提出了一种配备弹性触角的无人机平台，该平台能够实现"触碰即走"的机动——一种自我调节的连续碰撞运动，使无人机能够在不依赖主动避障的情况下保持与墙壁的邻近状态。该平台将环境交互作为一种具身控制形式加以利用，其中底层稳定与近障碍物导航源于无人机-障碍物系统（类似于质量-弹簧-阻尼系统）的被动动态响应。实验表明，弹性触角能够吸收冲击能量并维持飞行器稳定性，与刚性触角构型相比，俯仰振荡降低了38%。下部触角布局可将俯仰振荡降低约54%。除间歇性接触外，配备弹性触角的平台在标准姿态PID控制器支持下，亦能实现与静态物体的稳定持续接触。