Voxelcopter V2

Voxelcopter V2 is the next iteration of a modular construction kit for rapid prototyping and assembly of multicopter unmanned aerial systems at the MIT Center for Bits and Atoms. Building on the original Voxelcopter demo presented at SCF ’23, the system uses reconfigurable functional voxels that route power and data through the airframe.

Background — Voxelcopter V1

Different UAV applications require different payloads, ranges, and geometries — yet conventional designs are hard to reconfigure without a full redesign. Voxelcopter addresses this with electromechanical voxels based on a cuboct unit cell: PCB faces route power, ground, and communications, assembling into lightweight stiff structures (~47 g per voxel, 65 mm side length).

• Primary controller voxel — ESP32 and ATtiny412 for command and feedback across the voxel bus
• Secondary motor voxels — ATtiny412 per propeller for distributed control
• Flight software — custom library on ESP32 for pitch/roll stabilization and web-based throttle control

A quadcopter was assembled, flight-tested, and disassembled for reuse — demonstrating modularity and in-flight performance (Wang, Smith & Gershenfeld, 2023).

Voxelcopter V2

Version 2 extends the platform with updated hardware, software, and assembly workflows. The project repository documents CAD, electronics, and flight integration for the modular aerial system and is developed in collaboration with the CBA voxel robotics group.

Related Work at CBA

• Voxel Robot CAD — live assembly tools
• Walking Robot — modular voxel locomotion

Links

• GitLab repository (CBA access required)
• Voxelcopter paper — MIT DSpace
• Voxelcopter paper (PDF)
• DOI: 10.1145/3623263.3629155
• Miana Smith — CBA

Credits

Original Voxelcopter: Sophia Wang, Miana Smith, and Neil Gershenfeld (MIT CBA, 2023). V2 development led by Miana Smith.