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Flying robots popularly known as drones or UAVs are emerging technologies of the current era. A significant amount of research work has been undertaken in this area in the last few years. Considering the current scenario where aerial vehicles are taking a major part of the market it is important to have an effective and robust design of flying robots. This paper aims to examine the categories of flying robots based on the features that include a range from petite to large and its body structure, wing designs, tail design, propulsion system, and gripper mechanisms along with the associated materials and manufacturing techniques. Again the work is intended to review the respective challenges faced by each category. Mostly the challenges faced by flying robots are design challenges, material selection, and fabrication challenges which are discussed in the paper. In this paper, we have summarized various designs of flying robots developed to date as well as we have focused on major features to be taken care of while designing flying robots. This paper has tried to focus on different design aspects and challenges faced by flying robots so that further research can be carried out to develop effective flying robots in the future.

This paper introduces Paraswift, a mobile robot that is able to climb an ordinary wall and deploy a paraglider for a remote controlled return to ground. The goal is entertainment and technical education through an unusual, eye-catching robot. Multiple requirements must be met – to provide a mechanism that generates strong adhesion for climbing yet is low weight for flying, to ensure a reliable transition from climbing to flying, and to handle collision forces on landing – in a single compact robot. The climbing technology is vortex adhesion with wheeled locomotion. The paraglider is folded into the robot shell on ascent and deployed at launch time using a novel mechanism based on a 2-DOF manipulator arm. Flight is remote controlled, and the robot has a protective frame of glass fiber reinforced plastic with a hard foam core to absorb collision forces on landing. This paper describes our work on the complete system, starting with the design, simulation, and physical testing of individual components, and culminating in the integration phase with successful climbing and flying on multiple walls of varying characteristics. We believe that Paraswift is the first demonstration of a compact robot that is capable of vertical climbing and passive flying.