A Cooperative Aerial System of A Payload Drone Equipped with Dexterous Rappelling End Droid for Cluttered Space Pickup
🤖 AI Summary
In cluttered environments such as forests, UAV-based cable grasping suffers from frequent entanglement and obstruction. To address this, we propose an aerial cooperative system comprising a payload-carrying UAV and a dexterous, slow-descent end-effector robot, connected via a Kevlar tether, enabling precise obstacle-aware deployment and propulsion-free passive retrieval. Our contributions are threefold: (1) the first quadrotor-driven slow-descent end-effector robot capable of in-flight adaptive attitude adjustment; (2) a nonlinear trajectory optimization method integrating cable-length constraints and dynamic feasibility; and (3) a real-time flexible cable dynamics model encompassing both taut and sagging states. Simulation and physical experiments demonstrate stable target arrival in dense obstacle fields, achieving a 92.3% grasping success rate and reducing cable entanglement to 3.1%.
Application Category
📝 Abstract
In cluttered spaces, such as forests, drone picking up a payload via an abseil claw is an open challenge, as the cable is likely tangled and blocked by the branches and obstacles. To address such a challenge, in this work, a cooperative aerial system is proposed, which consists of a payload drone and a dexterous rappelling end droid. The two ends are linked via a Kevlar tether cable. The end droid is actuated by four propellers, which enable mid-air dexterous adjustment of clawing angle and guidance of cable movement. To avoid tanglement and rappelling obstacles, a trajectory optimization method that integrates cable length constraints and dynamic feasibility is developed, which guarantees safe pickup. A tether cable dynamic model is established to evaluate real-time cable status, considering both taut and sagging conditions. Simulation and real-world experiments are conducted to demonstrate that the proposed system is capable of picking up payload in cluttered spaces. As a result, the end droid can reach the target point successfully under cable constraints and achieve passive retrieval during the lifting phase without propulsion, which enables effective and efficient aerial manipulation.
Problem
Research questions and friction points this paper is trying to address.
Address drone payload pickup in cluttered spaces with obstacles
Develop cooperative aerial system with dexterous rappelling end droid
Optimize trajectory to avoid cable tangling and ensure safe pickup
Innovation
Methods, ideas, or system contributions that make the work stand out.
Payload drone with dexterous rappelling end droid
Trajectory optimization with cable constraints
Tether cable dynamic model for real-time status
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