Innovative Development of a Flying robot with a Flexible Manipulator for Aerial Manipulations

Abstract4This paper presents an innovative development of a flying robot or an aerial robot, with a flexible manipulator, called the Dexterous Aerial Robotic System (DFTS), for aerial manipulations, especially for inspections and reparations of various structures such as wind turbines, power lines and open gas pipelines, decorations and painting of high industrial chimneys and walls of high buildings, as well as transport and delivery of courier shipments, relocation and manipulation of assemblies and units in inaccessible or dangerous environments.The proposed DFTS consists of two independent but interconnected systems or functional units, which have two main separate functions respectively, including a basic carrying function, and a precise positioning and stabilization function.The system with a basic carrying function is actually the main flying system, the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV); it is remotely controlled and piloted.Meanwhile, the aerial manipulation platform, called the vertical take-off and landing platform VTOL, which is an active flying platform with 6 degrees of freedom (DOF) is used for positioning and stabilization; and it is attached to the UAV via the soft link.With the use of a long soft link, the problems which are caused by the air turbulent flows generated by the UAV are minimized, and the aerial manipulations of objects are safely controlled and operated.The VTOL which is equipped with a grasping mechanism was successfully developed, prototyped and tested.The experimental results showed that, the developed VTOL can self-stabilize with the inclination angle of being up to 8 degrees.