Locally optimal trajectory planning for aerial manipulation in constrained environments

Abstract

Aerial manipulation tasks necessitate a reliable trajectory planning algorithms to perform complicated tasks. This paper provides a method of developing the locally optimal trajectory for aerial manipulation in constrained environments. We first show differential flatness of the aerial manipulation system when the inertial effect due to equipped robotic arm is compensated with the aid of a robust controller. To find the locally optimal path, we parameterize flat outputs as polynomials of time, and formulate a sequential quadratic programming (SQP) problem. Given a convex mesh representation of environment, we obtain a collision-free trajectory in almost real time, by imposing constraints based on a signed distance metric. We also conduct an experiment of operating an object located in a confined space, which validates effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.