Design of an Anthropomorphic, Compliant, and Lightweight Dual Arm for Aerial Manipulation

Set-based Inverse Kinematics Control of an Anthropomorphic Dual Arm Aerial Manipulator

“…In regard to the motion control, the controller follows an inverse-dynamics approach, based on the dynamic model of the dual arm aerial manipulator [8], taking into account and compensating the movements of the arms and the interaction wrenches with the environment [16].…”

“…The manipulator integrated in the aerial platform is an anthropomorphic, compliant and lightweight dual arm [8] whose main parameters are summarized in Table I. Each of the arms provides four degrees of freedom for end effector positioning in a human-like kinematic configuration, with three joints at the shoulder and one at the elbow.The arms are human-size, where the upper arm (from shoulder to elbow) and the forearm (from elbow to wrist) link lengths are 25 cm, whereas the separation between the shoulder joint of both arms is 30 cm.…”

“…On the one hand, the frame aluminum structure has been designed in such a way that the servo actuators are isolated against impacts, collisions and overloads, attaching polymer flange bearings that support the rotation of the links in the frame structure. On the other hand, and related with previous point, a spring-lever transmission mechanism is introduced between the servo shaft and the output link to provide compliance, so the peak torques associated to physical interactions are attenuated, allowing also the estimation and control of the forces and torques based on the measurement of the joint deflection angle [8], [16].…”

“…The hexarotor integrates an Intel NUC computer board, an Ubiquiti 5.8 GHz wireless link, along with the manipulator and the batteries. The arms are supported by a frame structure attached at the legs of the landing gear in such a way that the effective volume of operation of the arms is maximized, avoiding collisions with the landing gear or the propellers [8]. Figure 1 corresponds to the nominal operation position, while in the take-off and landing the arms rotate ± 90 deg around the shoulder roll joint [7].…”

“…A brief literature review can be found in [6]. In order to increase the dexterity, needed to deal with environment perturbations and to perform complex tasks, recently Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) equipped by multiple arms have been proposed in [7], [8].…”