This paper presents an aerially deployable crawler designed for adaptive locomotion and manipulation within tree canopies. The system combines compliant microspine-based tracks, a dual-track rotary gripper, and an elastic tail, enabling secure attachment and stable traversal across branches of varying curvature and inclination. Experiments demonstrate reliable gripping up to 90$^\circ$ body roll and inclination, while effective climbing on branches inclined up to 67.5$^\circ$, achieving a maximum speed of 0.55 body lengths per second on horizontal branches. The compliant tracks allow yaw steering of up to 10$^\circ$, enhancing maneuverability on irregular surfaces. Power measurements show efficient operation with a dimensionless cost of transport over an order of magnitude lower than typical hovering power consumption in aerial robots. The crawler provides a robust, low-power platform for environmental sampling and in-canopy sensing. The aerial deployment is demonstrated at a conceptual and feasibility level, while full drone-crawler integration is left as future work.

翻译：本文提出一种可空中部署的爬行机器人，专为树冠环境中的自适应运动与操作而设计。该系统结合了基于柔性微刺的履带、双履带旋转夹持器以及弹性尾部，能够在不同曲率和倾斜度的树枝上实现可靠附着与稳定移动。实验表明，该系统在机身侧倾和倾斜角度高达90$^\circ$时仍能保持可靠抓握，并可在倾斜度达67.5$^\circ$的树枝上有效攀爬，在水平树枝上的最高移动速度达到每秒0.55个机身长度。柔性履带允许高达10$^\circ$的偏航转向，增强了在不规则表面的机动性。功耗测量显示其运行高效，其无量纲运输能耗比典型空中机器人悬停功耗低一个数量级以上。该爬行机器人为环境采样与冠层内传感提供了一个鲁棒、低功耗的平台。空中部署功能已在概念与可行性层面得到验证，而完整的无人机-爬行器集成将作为未来工作展开。