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Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, are now used to capture images and perform various tasks in outdoor environments. Although there are currently several drone designs with different advantages and characteristics, most traditional aerial robots are underactuated, which means they have fewer individual actuators than their degrees of freedom (DoF).
Underactuated systems are often more cost-effective and can be controlled using simpler control strategies than overactuated systems (i.e., robots with more independent actuators than degrees of freedom). Still, they are often less reliable and their position and direction cannot be accurately controlled.
Researchers at the Tecnalia Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA) in Spain have recently developed a new overactuated aerial robot that can independently control the position and direction of its main body. The robot, described in a paper published in the journal Robotics and Autonomous Systems, has four quad-rotor aircraft that cooperate to carry its central body.
“The inspiration for our recently published paper came from the need to push the boundaries of drones beyond passive observation missions to help automate currently dangerous or expensive tasks, such as working at high altitudes or in remote areas,” said Imanol Iriarte, co-author of the paper. Paper, told TechXplore. “We seek to develop a system that can proactively interact with its environment, performing tasks such as load transportation, cooperative construction, contact-based inspections or infrastructure maintenance.”
The main goal of Iriarte and his colleagues in Tacnalia’s recent work is to design an aerial robot with multiple actuators that help generate thrust and can independently control the position and direction of its central body. The robot they developed consists of a main body connected to four quadrotor aircraft through passive universal joints.
“The quad-rotor aircraft cooperates to carry the main body and can independently control the main body’s six degrees of freedom, allowing the robot to perform complex movements and interact with the environment in a more dexterous way.” Iriarte explained. “The main advantages of our system are its high control, the ability to take off and land on inclined surfaces, and thrust vectoring capabilities.”
In addition to the aerial robot, the researchers have also developed a temporary control algorithm that converts the required position and direction of the subject into angular velocity commands for the robot’s 16 propellers. The algorithm also effectively suppresses external interference, thereby further enhancing the robot’s control capabilities.
“Our aerial robot can autonomously track its body’s six degrees of freedom using only passive mechanisms, which is inherently not feasible for traditional underactuated multi-rotor vehicles,” Iliat said. “There may be many practical applications for robots, including load transportation, collaborative construction, contact-based inspections or infrastructure maintenance.”
So far, Iliat and his colleagues have evaluated their robot through a series of tests in simulated and real outdoor environments. They found that their robot could autonomously track six degrees of freedom of its central fuselage, something traditional drones could not achieve.
In the future, researchers ‘robots can be further improved and tested in a wider range of real-world environments. Ultimately, it can be used to solve a variety of complex tasks that require high-precision control and tracking.
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Original text:https://techxplore.com/news/2024-08-aerial-robot-independently-position.html
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