Continuous locomotion over smooth surfaces with aerial manipulators

This document addresses the analysis and the synthesizing of a controller aimed at allowing a UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) to exert a force on the surrounding environment in a sustained fashion. The vehicle is assumed to be equipped with a 1 DoF manipulator endowed with a tool. The goal is to enable the system to push onto arbitrary oriented smooth surfaces, while dealing with constraints on the applied force and on the manipulator workspace.\\ At first the problem is analyzed and the main challenges evidenced. Then the proposed approach is presented and the system model computed by means of Screw Theory, highlighting salient features. Since the controller relies on linearization, particular attention is posed in the equilibrium setpoints analysis and choice, which are designed to satisfy the force and stability requirements while allowing the system to perform some movements, in order to tackle the bounded workspace challenge.\\ Finally a linear quadratic regulator is adopted, switching between different equilibrium points with a gain scheduling technique. In the last section the simulation results obtained via ROS and Gazebo are shown and commented, evaluating the control algorithm and approach performances with respect to the addressed task and the implementation. \\Finally some interesting possible future developments and improvements for the project are suggested.