Aerial robotic contact-based inspection: planning and control

Abstract

The challenge of aerial robotic contact-based inspection is the driving motivation of this paper. The problem is approached on both levels of control and pathplanning by introducing algorithms and control laws that ensure optimal inspection through contact and controlled aerial robotic physical interaction. Regarding the flight and physical interaction stabilization, a hybrid model predictive control framework is proposed, based on which a typical quadrotor becomes capable of stable and active interaction, accurate trajectory tracking on environmental surfaces as well as force control. Convex optimization techniques enabled the explicit computation of such a controller which accounts for the dynamics in free-flight as well as during physical interaction, ensures the global stability of the hybrid system and provides optimal responses while respecting the physical limitations of the vehicle. Further augmentation of this scheme, allowed the incorporation of a last-resort obstacle avoidance mechanism at the control level. Relying on such a control law, a contact-based inspection planner was developed which computes the optimal route within a given set of inspection points while avoiding any obstacles or other no-fly zones on the environmental surface. Extensive experimental studies that included complex "aerial-writing" tasks, interaction with non-planar and textured surfaces, execution of multiple inspection operations and obstacle avoidance maneuvers, indicate the efficiency of the proposed methods and the potential capabilities of aerial robotic inspection through contact.

Inspection-while-flying: An autonomous contact-based nondestructive test using UAV-tools

“…It also diverges from other tools by mature solving methods when state of art quadratic programming (QP) solvers are considered. In this study, different from the current optimization-based approaches [49,50,51], the cen-160 tralized baseline model of the UAV is augmented considering external forces. In [49], the system is decomposed into multiple models without considering external forces.…”

A Truly-Redundant Aerial Manipulator System With Application to Push-and-Slide Inspection in Industrial Plants

“…The control methods range from decentralized methods to admittance based methods [7], passing through flatness-based [8] and dynamicinversion-based methods [9]. The majority of these works present methods to enhance aerial interaction capabilities of aerial vehicles, but only a few addressed real physical interaction tasks although for simple vertical flat surfaces, like [10], [11].…”

Lightweight and Compliant Long Reach Aerial Manipulator for Inspection Operations

“…In recent years the development of autonomous aerial robots capable of physical interaction is catching much interest in robotic research [1] [2]. Aerial robots with integrated robotic manipulators, known as aerial manipulators [3][4] [5], offer strong potentialities for applications as the inspection and maintenance of industrial facilities and infrastructures, aerial power lines, moving objects, and taking samples of material from areas that are difficult to access.…”