Aerial Perching via Active Touch: Embodying Robust Tactile Grasping on Aerial Robots

Aerial Perching via Active Touch: Embodying Robust Tactile Grasping on Aerial Robots

Jadoenathmisier, Anish (TU Delft Aerospace Engineering)

Hamaza, S. (mentor)
de Croon, G.C.H.E. (graduation committee)
Pool, D.M. (graduation committee)
Bredenbeck, A. (graduation committee)

Delft University of Technology

Aerospace Engineering | Control & Simulation

2023-12-21

Aerial manipulators, characterized by their ability to actively engage with the environment, are gaining popularity for their versatility in performing diverse tasks.
This research focuses on augmenting the capabilities of aerial manipulators through the integration of tactile feedback, specifically employing a compliant bio-inspired three-fingered manipulator equipped with tactile capacitive sensors on each finger. The manipulator is affixed to a drone, enabling tactile-guided navigation for precise object localization, subsequent grasping, and perching. Additionally, a grasp evaluator assesses grasp quality, allowing the system to adapt by suggesting alternative grasp locations after an initial attempt is unsuccessful. A comparative analysis between the system’s performance using tactile feedback and open-loop perching/grasping in perching scenarios demonstrates that the grasp evaluator improves the perching success rate by 55%-point and increases the allowable object uncertainty by 0.14 [m]. These findings highlight the efficacy of this approach in advancing aerial manipulator capabilities.

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:f7ec9e1c-15db-4982-b2fa-4ba0f51a5b91

Student theses

master thesis

© 2023 Anish Jadoenathmisier