Aerial torsional manipulation employing multi-rotor flying robot

Abstract

We describe an implementation of torsional work at high altitude employing an aerial robot equipped with an upward directed hand on top of a hexarotor airframe, considering its workspace above the airframe. The aerial robot in this study consists of a small hexarotor platform and a robotic hand module including a gripper. After grasping the object, the torsional work is executed by using yaw rotation of the body of the robot. For increasing a torque for the torsional task, an impact device is embedded at the base of the hand module. A maximum instant torque generated with this impact device was more than 4 N·m. In addition, the number of rotations of the body is measured through images captured by an onboard camera mounted beside the hand. Through experiments, we verified the feasibility of the present robot by successfully unscrewing a light bulb set to the socket above the robot and safely landing with the detached bulb.