This thesis presents a robotic manipulation technique named “Rock-and-Walk” for transporting bulky and heavy objects using small aerial robot(s). Inspired by an archeological study of a possible method used to transport the giant Moai statues by ancient humans on the Easter Island, objects with a curved edge can be rocked back and forth to form a stable gait and ”walk” forward. Mechanics of the passive object dynamics and active gait control are presented and analyzed. Controllers for regulating object’s energy and posture are designed and implemented. A custom robotic system consists of two quadrotor aerial robots, a set of instrumented objects, and a ground station is constructed for experimental validation. Experiments show objects can be transported in a straight line and steered al...[ Read more ]

This thesis presents a robotic manipulation technique named “Rock-and-Walk” for transporting bulky and heavy objects using small aerial robot(s). Inspired by an archeological study of a possible method used to transport the giant Moai statues by ancient humans on the Easter Island, objects with a curved edge can be rocked back and forth to form a stable gait and ”walk” forward. Mechanics of the passive object dynamics and active gait control are presented and analyzed. Controllers for regulating object’s energy and posture are designed and implemented. A custom robotic system consists of two quadrotor aerial robots, a set of instrumented objects, and a ground station is constructed for experimental validation. Experiments show objects can be transported in a straight line and steered along a circle on various terrains using a single quadrotor equipped with caging end-effector. Using two quadrotors and collaborative cable suspension, objects too heavy to be lifted can be transported this way. Performance analysis and parameter study are given to show the factors affecting walking speed and effort reduction.