LASDRA: Large-Size Aerial Skeleton System with Distributed Rotor Actuation

Electrical motor and hydraulic actuation widely-used in robotics are “internal actuation” with their actuators sitting at the joint between two links. This internal actuation is fundamentally limiting to construct a large-size dexterously-articulated robot, since any external force (and its own link weight) is to be accumulated to the base multiplied by the moment arm length, requiring extremely strong/sturdy base actuator/structure as the system size increases. In this paper, we propose a novel robotic system, LASDRA (large-size aerial skeleton with distributed rotor actuation), which, by utilizing distributed rotors as “external actuation”, can overcome this limitation of internal actuation and enables us to realize large-size dexterously-articulated robots. We present its design and modeling, joint locking strategy to increase its loading capability, and also a novel decentralized control scheme to allow for compliant operation with scalability against the number of links. Trajectory tracking and valve turning experiments are also performed to validate the theory.