Design and Control of a Novel High Payload Light Arm for Heavy Aerial Manipulation Tasks

Michele Marolla, Jonathan Cacace, Vincenzo Lippiello

2023

Abstract

Aerial manipulation is a rapidly emerging research field that explores the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles as mobile manipulators. To enable aerial manipulation, UAVs must be equipped with lightweight robotic arms capable of interacting with the environment. However, due to battery life constraints and payload limitations, these arms must be designed to be as light as possible, which restricts their ability to transport and manipulate heavy objects. In this work, we introduce a novel aerial manipulator prototype designed specifically for high payload manipulation. The arm is designed to have its center of mass as close as possible to its base, which is attached to the aerial frame. The arm incorporates a system of belts to facilitate the movement of its various joints. This paper presents the arm’s design, along with a control approach to compensate for the elasticity introduced by the belts. To showcase the system’s capabilities, we conduct two sets of experiments. Firstly, the arm is tested within a controlled laboratory environment. Secondly, we deploy an aerial robot equipped with the proposed prototype in a powerline maintenance task.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Marolla M., Cacace J. and Lippiello V. (2023). Design and Control of a Novel High Payload Light Arm for Heavy Aerial Manipulation Tasks. In Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics - Volume 1: ICINCO; ISBN 978-989-758-670-5, SciTePress, pages 465-473. DOI: 10.5220/0012202900003543

in Bibtex Style

@conference{icinco23,
author={Michele Marolla and Jonathan Cacace and Vincenzo Lippiello},
title={Design and Control of a Novel High Payload Light Arm for Heavy Aerial Manipulation Tasks},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics - Volume 1: ICINCO},
year={2023},
pages={465-473},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0012202900003543},
isbn={978-989-758-670-5},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics - Volume 1: ICINCO
TI - Design and Control of a Novel High Payload Light Arm for Heavy Aerial Manipulation Tasks
SN - 978-989-758-670-5
AU - Marolla M.
AU - Cacace J.
AU - Lippiello V.
PY - 2023
SP - 465
EP - 473
DO - 10.5220/0012202900003543
PB - SciTePress