Transformable Multirotor with Two-Dimensional Multilinks: Modeling, Control, and Whole-Body Aerial Manipulation

Abstract

In this paper, we introduce a novel type of the multirotor aerial vehicle with two-dimensional multilinks which enables the stable aerial transformation for high mobility in three-dimensional environments. Our goal is to hold and carry object by using the whole-body manipulation in the air. The research involved three steps. First, we developed the modeling of the link modules that compose a multirotor with two-dimensional multilinks and conducted a quadrotor prototype. Second, we derived a stable flight control method for aerial transformation on the basis of linear-quadratic-integral optimal control. Third, we investigated the whole-body aerial manipulation based on the enveloping grasping method for the four-link type which takes the additional inertial parameters and joint torque into account. Successful aerial transformation and manipulation with the quadrotor prototype were demonstrated, confirming the feasibility of our proposed transformable multirotor for aerial maneuvering.