Date of Award:

8-2011

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Committee Chair(s)

Wei Ren

Committee

Wei Ren

Committee

Todd K. Moon

Committee

Donald Cripps

Abstract

This paper presents an implementation of autonomous indoor aerial gripping using a low-cost, custom-built quadrotor. Such research extends the typical functionality of micro air vehicles (MAV) from passive observation and sensing to dynamic interaction with the environment. To achieve this, three major challenges are overcome: precise positioning, sensing and manipulation of the object, and stabilization in the presence of disturbance due to interaction with the object. Navigation in both indoor and outdoor unstructured, Global Positioning System-denied (GPS-denied) environments is achieved using a visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) algorithm that relies on an onboard monocular camera. A secondary camera, capable of detecting infrared light sources, is used to estimate the 3D location of the object, while an underactuated and passively compliant manipulator is designed for effective gripping under uncertainty. The system utilizes nested Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controllers for attitude stabilization, vision-based navigation, and gripping. The quadrotor is therefore able to autonomously navigate, locate, and grasp an object, using only onboard sensors.

Checksum

9a2b44eca3465ff28c50a0482fe7b2b7

Comments

This work was made publicly available electronically on September 29, 2011.

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