Analysis & Experimentation of an Autonomous Aerial Manipulator Interaction with a Vertical Wall [video]

Authors
Tavora, Bruno
Subjects
Advisors
Date of Issue
2017-04-12
Date
Wednesday, 12 April 2017
Publisher
Language
Abstract
The applications of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are usually limited to the exchange of information for tasks without physical interaction such as tracking, surveillance, mapping, and visual inspection. The use of UAVs equipped with robotic arms, capable of interacting with the environment, could significantly increase their capability. In recent years, a new area of research has been growing on the use of aerial manipulators for a larger variety of applications, such as physical inspection, maintenance, cleaning walls, and collecting objects in areas of difficult access. An important problem that has not been addressed by the academic community is the interaction between a multicopter equipped with a robotic arm and a vertical wall. There are several applications that would demand such study, like performing maintenance on a piece of a vertical equipment, cleaning a wall, opening a door knob, or rescuing from a tall building. However, there is no record in the literature of an aerial manipulator, with a more complex robotic arm, capable of producing forces or torques about any direction under interaction with a vertical obstacle. We have conducted analysis and experimentation on the aerial manipulation on a wall, taking advantage of an indoor laboratory facility and a multicopter equipped with a three-link robotic arm. Simulations and experiments have been implemented to generate desired force and torque against a vertical wall using a multi-layer control algorithm. To address difficulties caused by the near-wall effect, a near-wall effect model has been developed and experimentally verified. An overview of the wall-interaction controller and analysis on results from simulations and experiments will be provided.
Type
Video
Presentation
Description
TechCon2017 (CRUSER)
Presented by Maj Bruno Tavora, Brazilian Air Force: NPS MAE
Series/Report No
Department
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE)
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
NPS CRUSER
Funder
Format
Citation
Distribution Statement
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.
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