Initial flight experiments of a canopy sampling aerial manipulator

Abstract

Development of an aerial manipulator prototype for canopy sampling is presented. As part of addressing the unique challenges of operating in a forest canopy environment, the prototype features an offset-mounted manipulator. The first steps of flight experiments have been conducted in an attempt to determine the viability of an off-the-shelf PID flight control implementation - acceptable performance would negate the need to use more complex implementations. Indoor testing has been conducted with the aid of motion capture in-the-loop to alleviate inertial sensing uncertainties. This work investigates the two simplest dynamic phases of a sampling operation: position holding during free-flight, and position holding whilst the arm is moving.