Micro-aerial vehicles (MAVs) face limited flight times, which adversely impacts their efficacy for scenarios such as first response and disaster recovery, where it might be useful to deploy persistent radio relays and quadrotors for monitoring or sampling. Thus, it is important to enable micro-aerial vehicles to land and perch on different surfaces to save energy by cutting power to motors. We are motivated to use a downward-facing gripper for perching, as opposed to a side-mounted gripper, since it could also be used to carry payloads. In this paper, we predict and verify the performance of a custom gripper designed for perching on smooth surfaces. We also present control and planning algorithms, enabling an underactuated quadrotor with a downward-facing gripper to perch on inclined surfaces while satisfying constraints on actuation and sensing. Experimental results demonstrate the proposed techniques through successful perching on a glass surface at various inclinations, including vertical.
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October 2016
Research-Article
Aggressive Flight With Quadrotors for Perching on Inclined Surfaces
Justin Thomas,
Justin Thomas
GRASP Lab,
Department of Mechanical Engineering
and Applied Mechanics,
University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, PA 19104
e-mail: jut@seas.upenn.edu
Department of Mechanical Engineering
and Applied Mechanics,
University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, PA 19104
e-mail: jut@seas.upenn.edu
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Morgan Pope,
Morgan Pope
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Stanford University,
Stanford, CA 94305
e-mail: mpope@stanford.edu
Stanford University,
Stanford, CA 94305
e-mail: mpope@stanford.edu
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Giuseppe Loianno,
Giuseppe Loianno
GRASP Lab,
Department of Mechanical Engineering
and Applied Mechanics,
University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, PA 19104
e-mail: loiannog@seas.upenn.edu
Department of Mechanical Engineering
and Applied Mechanics,
University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, PA 19104
e-mail: loiannog@seas.upenn.edu
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Elliot W. Hawkes,
Elliot W. Hawkes
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Stanford University,
Stanford, CA 94305
e-mail: ewhawkes@stanford.edu
Stanford University,
Stanford, CA 94305
e-mail: ewhawkes@stanford.edu
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Matthew A. Estrada,
Matthew A. Estrada
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Stanford University,
Stanford, CA 94305
e-mail: estrada1@stanford.edu
Stanford University,
Stanford, CA 94305
e-mail: estrada1@stanford.edu
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Hao Jiang,
Hao Jiang
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Stanford University,
Stanford, CA 94305
e-mail: jianghao@stanford.edu
Stanford University,
Stanford, CA 94305
e-mail: jianghao@stanford.edu
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Mark R. Cutkosky,
Mark R. Cutkosky
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Stanford University,
Stanford, CA 94305
e-mail: cutkosky@stanford.edu
Stanford University,
Stanford, CA 94305
e-mail: cutkosky@stanford.edu
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Vijay Kumar
Vijay Kumar
GRASP Lab
Department of Mechanical Engineering
and Applied Mechanics,
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104
e-mail: kumar@seas.upenn.edu
Department of Mechanical Engineering
and Applied Mechanics,
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104
e-mail: kumar@seas.upenn.edu
Search for other works by this author on:
Justin Thomas
GRASP Lab,
Department of Mechanical Engineering
and Applied Mechanics,
University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, PA 19104
e-mail: jut@seas.upenn.edu
Department of Mechanical Engineering
and Applied Mechanics,
University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, PA 19104
e-mail: jut@seas.upenn.edu
Morgan Pope
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Stanford University,
Stanford, CA 94305
e-mail: mpope@stanford.edu
Stanford University,
Stanford, CA 94305
e-mail: mpope@stanford.edu
Giuseppe Loianno
GRASP Lab,
Department of Mechanical Engineering
and Applied Mechanics,
University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, PA 19104
e-mail: loiannog@seas.upenn.edu
Department of Mechanical Engineering
and Applied Mechanics,
University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, PA 19104
e-mail: loiannog@seas.upenn.edu
Elliot W. Hawkes
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Stanford University,
Stanford, CA 94305
e-mail: ewhawkes@stanford.edu
Stanford University,
Stanford, CA 94305
e-mail: ewhawkes@stanford.edu
Matthew A. Estrada
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Stanford University,
Stanford, CA 94305
e-mail: estrada1@stanford.edu
Stanford University,
Stanford, CA 94305
e-mail: estrada1@stanford.edu
Hao Jiang
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Stanford University,
Stanford, CA 94305
e-mail: jianghao@stanford.edu
Stanford University,
Stanford, CA 94305
e-mail: jianghao@stanford.edu
Mark R. Cutkosky
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Stanford University,
Stanford, CA 94305
e-mail: cutkosky@stanford.edu
Stanford University,
Stanford, CA 94305
e-mail: cutkosky@stanford.edu
Vijay Kumar
GRASP Lab
Department of Mechanical Engineering
and Applied Mechanics,
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104
e-mail: kumar@seas.upenn.edu
Department of Mechanical Engineering
and Applied Mechanics,
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104
e-mail: kumar@seas.upenn.edu
1Corresponding author.
Manuscript received September 21, 2015; final manuscript received December 3, 2015; published online May 4, 2016. Assoc. Editor: James Schmiedeler.
J. Mechanisms Robotics. Oct 2016, 8(5): 051007 (10 pages)
Published Online: May 4, 2016
Article history
Received:
September 21, 2015
Revised:
December 3, 2015
Citation
Thomas, J., Pope, M., Loianno, G., Hawkes, E. W., Estrada, M. A., Jiang, H., Cutkosky, M. R., and Kumar, V. (May 4, 2016). "Aggressive Flight With Quadrotors for Perching on Inclined Surfaces." ASME. J. Mechanisms Robotics. October 2016; 8(5): 051007. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4032250
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