Graduation Semester and Year

Summer 2024

Language

English

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering

Department

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

First Advisor

Animesh Chakravarthy

Second Advisor

Alan P. Bowling

Third Advisor

Shuo Linda Wang

Abstract

Unmanned Aerial manipulators (UAMs) are a class of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) equipped with a manipulator. By combining the aerial mobility of a UAV with a manipulator's dexterity, these hybrid systems can perform a wide range of complex tasks while reducing risks and costs. As a result, they are increasingly being utilized for military, industrial, and agricultural applications.

The thesis presents a novel approach for a multi-UAM system to collaboratively deliver a payload on a stationary or maneuvering platform. A sliding-mode-based guidance law, sourced from existing literature, is integrated with a combined control technique for the UAVs and their respective manipulator arms. A nonlinear, quaternion-based control is used to perform attitude control of the UAVs and a feedback linearization law is applied to control the orientation of the manipulator. This integration enables the $3-$UAM system to track the maneuvering platform and deliver the payload accurately from any angle within a finite time. The maneuvering strategies also include a controller to orient the payload to a desired angle, ensuring precise delivery. The novelty of this work lies in the integration of established guidance laws with advanced control techniques significantly enhancing the operational capabilities of the UAM system. Simulations are performed in MATLAB and ROS-Gazebo to validate the functionality of the proposed integrated guidance and control strategy.

Keywords

Sliding mode control, Multi-UAM system, Nonlinear control, Quaternion-based control, Feedback linearization, Payload delivery, Collaborative transport, ROS simulation

Disciplines

Acoustics, Dynamics, and Controls | Controls and Control Theory | Electro-Mechanical Systems | Multi-Vehicle Systems and Air Traffic Control | Navigation, Guidance, Control and Dynamics | Robotics | VLSI and Circuits, Embedded and Hardware Systems

License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Available for download on Saturday, February 08, 2025

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