Multirotor Long-Reach Aerial Pruning with Wire-Suspended Saber Saw

Abstract

Pruning work at high altitude is a dangerous work with a high risk of accidents for human workers. In this research, we propose a multirotor flying robot that is equipped with a wire-suspended device and performs pruning task. We use a saber saw as a cutting tool. If the cutting tool is installed on the body of the multirotor platform, it is difficult for the flying robot to approach the desired work point if there are obstacles such as other branches around the target branch to be pruned. Therefore, in this study, we propose a saber saw suspended from the body of the multirotor platform with two wires. The wire-suspended device is equipped with a saber saw and four ducted fans that produces thrust in any direction on the horizontal plane. This ducted fan system can be used to suppress the swing of the wire-suspended device to make positioning of the saber saw blade to the target point easier, and to improve the efficiency of the cutting and reduce the cutting time by providing a pushing force to the saber saw. As a result, the pruning work could be performed efficiently. Experiments have demonstrated that aerial pruning is possible using the long-reach wire-suspended saber saw.