Multi-robot Aerial Soft Manipulator For Floating Litter Collection
Fuente:
arXiv
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2025
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1866913926952779776 |
|---|---|
| author | González-Morgado, Antonio Smits, Sander Heredia, Guillermo Ollero, Anibal Krupa, Alexandre Chaumette, François Spindler, Fabien Franchi, Antonio Gabellieri, Chiara |
| author_facet | González-Morgado, Antonio Smits, Sander Heredia, Guillermo Ollero, Anibal Krupa, Alexandre Chaumette, François Spindler, Fabien Franchi, Antonio Gabellieri, Chiara |
| contents | Removing floating litter from water bodies is crucial to preserving aquatic ecosystems and preventing environmental pollution. In this work, we present a multi-robot aerial soft manipulator for floating litter collection, leveraging the capabilities of aerial robots. The proposed system consists of two aerial robots connected by a flexible rope manipulator, which collects floating litter using a hook-based tool. Compared to single-aerial-robot solutions, the use of two aerial robots increases payload capacity and flight endurance while reducing the downwash effect at the manipulation point, located at the midpoint of the rope. Additionally, we employ an optimization-based rope-shape planner to compute the desired rope shape. The planner incorporates an adaptive behavior that maximizes grasping capabilities near the litter while minimizing rope tension when farther away. The computed rope shape trajectory is controlled by a shape visual servoing controller, which approximates the rope as a parabola. The complete system is validated in outdoor experiments, demonstrating successful grasping operations. An ablation study highlights how the planner's adaptive mechanism improves the success rate of the operation. Furthermore, real-world tests in a water channel confirm the effectiveness of our system in floating litter collection. These results demonstrate the potential of aerial robots for autonomous litter removal in aquatic environments. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_03517 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Multi-robot Aerial Soft Manipulator For Floating Litter Collection González-Morgado, Antonio Smits, Sander Heredia, Guillermo Ollero, Anibal Krupa, Alexandre Chaumette, François Spindler, Fabien Franchi, Antonio Gabellieri, Chiara Robotics Systems and Control Removing floating litter from water bodies is crucial to preserving aquatic ecosystems and preventing environmental pollution. In this work, we present a multi-robot aerial soft manipulator for floating litter collection, leveraging the capabilities of aerial robots. The proposed system consists of two aerial robots connected by a flexible rope manipulator, which collects floating litter using a hook-based tool. Compared to single-aerial-robot solutions, the use of two aerial robots increases payload capacity and flight endurance while reducing the downwash effect at the manipulation point, located at the midpoint of the rope. Additionally, we employ an optimization-based rope-shape planner to compute the desired rope shape. The planner incorporates an adaptive behavior that maximizes grasping capabilities near the litter while minimizing rope tension when farther away. The computed rope shape trajectory is controlled by a shape visual servoing controller, which approximates the rope as a parabola. The complete system is validated in outdoor experiments, demonstrating successful grasping operations. An ablation study highlights how the planner's adaptive mechanism improves the success rate of the operation. Furthermore, real-world tests in a water channel confirm the effectiveness of our system in floating litter collection. These results demonstrate the potential of aerial robots for autonomous litter removal in aquatic environments. |
| title | Multi-robot Aerial Soft Manipulator For Floating Litter Collection |
| topic | Robotics Systems and Control |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.03517 |