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A Suspended Aerial Manipulation Avatar for Physical Interaction in Unstructured Environments

Fanyi Kong, Grazia Zambella, Simone Monteleone, Giorgio Grioli, Manuel G. Catalano, Antonio Bicchi

Abstract

This paper presents an aerial platform capable of performing physically interactive tasks in unstructured environments with human-like dexterity under human supervision. This aerial platform consists of a humanoid torso attached to a hexacopter. A two-degree-of-freedom head and two five-degree-of-freedom arms equipped with softhands provide the requisite dexterity to allow human operators to carry out various tasks. A robust tendon-driven structure is purposefully designed for the arms, considerably reducing the impact of arm inertia on the floating base in motion. In addition, tendons provide flexibility to the joints, which enhances the robustness of the arm preventing damage in interaction with the environment. To increase the payload of the aerial system and the battery life, we use the concept of Suspended Aerial Manipulation, i.e., the flying humanoid can be connected with a tether to a structure, e.g., a larger airborne carrier or a supporting crane. Importantly, to maximize portability and applicability, we adopt a modular approach exploiting commercial components for the aerial base hardware and autopilot, while developing an outer stabilizing control loop to maintain the attitude, compensating for the tether force and for the humanoid head and arm motions. The humanoid can be controlled by a remote operator, thus effectively realizing a Suspended Aerial Manipulation Avatar. The proposed system is validated through experiments in indoor scenarios reproducing post-disaster tasks.

A Suspended Aerial Manipulation Avatar for Physical Interaction in Unstructured Environments

Abstract

This paper presents an aerial platform capable of performing physically interactive tasks in unstructured environments with human-like dexterity under human supervision. This aerial platform consists of a humanoid torso attached to a hexacopter. A two-degree-of-freedom head and two five-degree-of-freedom arms equipped with softhands provide the requisite dexterity to allow human operators to carry out various tasks. A robust tendon-driven structure is purposefully designed for the arms, considerably reducing the impact of arm inertia on the floating base in motion. In addition, tendons provide flexibility to the joints, which enhances the robustness of the arm preventing damage in interaction with the environment. To increase the payload of the aerial system and the battery life, we use the concept of Suspended Aerial Manipulation, i.e., the flying humanoid can be connected with a tether to a structure, e.g., a larger airborne carrier or a supporting crane. Importantly, to maximize portability and applicability, we adopt a modular approach exploiting commercial components for the aerial base hardware and autopilot, while developing an outer stabilizing control loop to maintain the attitude, compensating for the tether force and for the humanoid head and arm motions. The humanoid can be controlled by a remote operator, thus effectively realizing a Suspended Aerial Manipulation Avatar. The proposed system is validated through experiments in indoor scenarios reproducing post-disaster tasks.
Paper Structure (28 sections, 27 equations, 13 figures, 4 tables)

This paper contains 28 sections, 27 equations, 13 figures, 4 tables.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Concept
  3. Platform Design
  4. Mechanical Design
  5. Aerial Base
  6. Dual Arms
  7. Hands
  8. Head Design
  9. Compensation system
  10. Electronics, Sensors, and Communication
  11. System Model
  12. Kinematics
  13. Dynamics
  14. Control Structure
  15. Control System
  16. ...and 13 more sections

Figures (13)

  • Figure 1: Prototype of the aerial platform used for aerial teleoperation. It is composed of a DJI hexacopter base, two 5-DoFs arms based on novel soft articulated joints, two softhads (derivation of the PISA/IIT SoftHand catalano2014adaptive), and a 2-DoFs head.
  • Figure 2: Concept of SAM-A. The Suspended Aerial Manipulation Avatar is designed for operation in highly unstructured environments, such as after a disaster. An external support device such as a helicopter (left) or a crane (right) improves payload bearing and autonomy, while an independent propulsion system stabilizes the bi-manual manipulating platform.
  • Figure 3: a) Configuration of the joints. The figure shows the kinematic relations between the motor rotation and the joint rotation and presents the two axes around which the joint rotates. The elastic bands keep the joint in position while The tendon drives it. b) Routing of the tendons inside a joint. From top to bottom, positive configuration closes the joint, negative configuration opens it, and neutral configuration exerts no action on it. c) Routing of the four tendons to achieve the differential actuation of the joints.
  • Figure 4: Description of the torso of the platform. The picture points out the position of the electronics, the localization of the actuation units of both arms, the disarticulated joints, and the SohtHands employed as end-effectors.
  • Figure 5: 2-Dofs head, showing the direction of rotation and the position of the binocular camera.
  • ...and 8 more figures