On the Design, Modeling and Control of a Novel Compact Aerial Manipulator

The aim of this article is to present a novel fourdegree-of-freedom aerial manipulator allowing a multirotorUnmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to physically interact with theenvironment. The proposed design, named CARMA (CompactAeRial MAnipulator), is characterized by low disturbances onthe UAV flight dynamics, extended workspace (with regard toits retracted configuration) and fast dynamics (compared to theUAV dynamics). The dynamic model is formulated and a controlstructure consisting of an inverse kinematics algorithm and independentjoint position controllers is presented. Furthermore,the design specifications of the prototype are analyzed in detail,while experimental evaluations are conducted for the extractionof the manipulator’s workspace and the evaluation of system’stracking capabilities over pick-and-place trajectories. Finally,it is shown that the selected joint position sensors, combinedwith the derived inverse dynamic algorithm allow to determinethe wrenches exerted at the base, due to swift motions of thearm.Collaborative Aerial Robotic Workers, AEROWORK