Synthesis and Control of a 3 Degrees of Freedom Inherently Dynamically Balanced Manipulator for an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Synthesis and Control of a 3 Degrees of Freedom Inherently Dynamically Balanced Manipulator for an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Beacom, Mitchell (TU Delft Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering)

van der Wijk, V. (mentor)
Herder, J.L. (mentor)
Westerveld, W.J. (graduation committee)
Schwab, A.L. (graduation committee)

Delft University of Technology

Mechanical Engineering | Mechatronic System Design (MSD)

2021-01-29

In aerial manipulation, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are equipped with manipulators to perform a variety of tasks such as inspections of critical infrastructure at heights. A fundamental issue is that the shaking forces and moments of the manipulator cause the UAV to tip-over and become unstable. Control based methods have been applied in which the UAV provided a compensation force or moment at the propellers. However, the dynamic model required was too complex to compute on-board in real time and simplifications led to poor performance. This thesis resolves the issue of shaking forces and moments by creating a new manipulator using inherent dynamic balancing principles. The advantage of these principles is that the manipulator architecture achieves both functions of supporting and positioning the end effector as well as balancing. This helps to reduce the weight of the manipulator. The result of the synthesis work is a manipulator which is reactionless, lightweight, has 3 degrees of freedom, and is compatible with a UAV. First a manipulator is designed using inherently force balanced architectures. Next, active moment balancing is developed through a novel control scheme. Finally, a simulation is performed to prove the dynamic balancing and control method. It shows the manipulator is reactionless. However, the control scheme’s tracking still needs improvement. This work is useful to enable UAVs with manipulators to perform a variety of tasks such as inspections of surfaces at height.

Dynamic balancing
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
Manipulator
Mechatronic System Design
Control system
Robotic manipulator

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:c9eaa0fb-4613-4fb6-a4d1-0e56f232c69b

2023-01-29

Student theses

master thesis

© 2021 Mitchell Beacom