Design of an Aerial Manipulation System with
Robotic Claw for Search and Rescue Operations
Anjali Mishra
Department of Electronics and
Telecommunication
(of Thakur College of Engineering and
Technology )
University of Mumbai
Mumbai, India
2020 IEEE Bombay Section Signature Conference (IBSSC) | 978-1-7281-8993-2/20/$31.00 ©2020 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/IBSSC51096.2020.9332176
anjali_m@ieee.org
Abstract—The concept of Aerial Manipulation refers to the
design of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle to work as a combined
system in collaboration with an object grasping device. Over
the past two decades there have been tremendous discoveries
regarding the different methodologies used for aerial
manipulation which yield the best results in terms of flight
time, stability, object grasping and releasing. The Quadcopter
is intended to serve as an aid in Search and Rescue Operations
where the Drone's presence will function as a better alternative
to human resources. The focus of the proposed work is to
enable the Drone to have a simple claw type grasping
mechanism which is specially designed keeping in mind
important designing specifications of the UAV such as stability,
payload lifting capability etc. which will be single handedly
controlled via the Flight Controller which is an ARM Cortex
M4 based Microcontroller and with the help of an open source
Autopilot powered GUI to set the navigation points via the
telemetry module.
Keywords—UAV, Aerial Manipulation, Quadcopter,
payload, Flight Controller, GUI
I. INTRODUCTION
The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle or the Drone has been one
of those technologies that has instilled enthusiasm amongst
technology lovers of all generations for a long time now.
Right from 1900’s a tremendous growth in the drone sector
has been observed [1]. Right from being used for military
applications to the time now when it is effectively used in
Power, Mining, Agriculture, Emergency Response, Search
and Rescue, Advertising Sector etc. [2] the Drone has
opened gates for various Entrepreneurial ventures and are
Consumer friendly too. The focus of this paper is focused on
a UAV being used broadly in the Search and Rescue Sector
but not limited to the same. The UAV is designed to operate
as an Emergency Network Aid for post disaster relief
operations and monitoring of catastrophes. The aim of the
UAV is to be able to deliver small payloads to the site of
relief with the help of a robotic claw type gripper. The UAV
is using the DJI F450 Quadcopter frame which is composed
of glass fiber material and is 45 cms in length and weighing
330gm. Also, the DC Brushless Motors that are being used
by the UAV have a 935KV rating.
The KV rating of the motor plays a significant part here
as when multiplied the voltage supplied by the DC Source
gives the revolutions per minute by the motor. This value
determines the speed of the motor without the propeller. The
KV rating decides the amount of torque that is produced by
the motor of any UAV. When a low KV is combined with
224
Authorized licensed use limited to: Ritsumeikan University. Downloaded on April 20,2023 at 10:08:57 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
Sonia Behra
Department of Electronics and
Telecommunication
(of Thakur College of Engineering
and Technology )
University of Mumbai
Mumbai, India
sonia.behra@thakureducation.org
high torque it gives a slower but heavy payload lifting
multicopper while a motor with high KV is used for low
weight racing drone. Another important parameter which is
considered while designing is the thrust to weight ratio of the
UAV. For stable lift of the drone it is considered the thrust of
all the motors of the drone should be at least twice the weight
of the drone [3]. Here we are using 4 EMAX MTT2213 DC
Brushless motors who have a combined thrust of about 3440
gm which is more than double the weight of the frame. A
1045 propeller is used for the motors and 3000mAh 3S
40C/80C Lithium polymer battery is used which is 11.2V
rated. The UAV is controlled with the help of Pixhawk 2.4.8
Flight Controller which is a 32-Bit ARM Cortex M4
Microcontroller which has on board embedded sensors
which merely needs to be calibrated and controls the ESC’s
which are used to control the speed of the motor. The
quadcopter is being used in combination with a custom-made
claw type gripper which is explained in the section further
and is programmed using the same on-board Flight
Controller which is operated using waypoint navigation via a
telemetry module. To enhance the abilities of the drone to be
effectively used in Search and Rescue Operations thermal
imaging is used on the drone with the help of the Seek
Compact Camera for Android.
II. LITERATURE SURVEY
Unmanned Multicopper provide access to dangerous or
humanly difficult to reach sites and can accomplish tasks
which humans are generally incapable of. Manipulator tasks
can include the transportation of objects such as first aid kits
and emergency supplies, the manipulation of tools, or the
retrieval of samples [4]. Aerial manipulation in this context
could provide enhanced capabilities but there are certain
factors to be considered to sustain a certain aerodynamic
stability in the desired condition [5]. Broadly the research of
aerial manipulation tends to fall into three categories. The
first is the suspension of a payload by cables, also called a
“slung load.” The cable offers several advantages mostly in
the simplicity of design and requiring only active, intelligent
control of the multi-copter while carrying the load. We are
primarily focused on active and precise interaction with the
unmanned air vehicle’s environment and hence seek a more
active gripper mechanism which leads to the second type
which is the use of manipulator arms; these arms can have
two or more DOF and are generally fully actuated and
actively compliant. However, such control comes with a
relatively high computational cost and system complexity,
regardless of which control method is used. Additionally,
 full actuation increases the weight of the system due to the
need for an increased number of actuators. The desire to
conserve weight and decrease torsion has led to the use of
relatively small end effectors, greatly decreasing the
versatility and grasping capabilities of the manipulators
[4],[6]. The third and final approach to aerial manipulation
is mounting a claw-like gripper system to a UAV to grasp
objects. The comparison of the three generic methodologies
for manipulation can be understood by Table 1. The device
that we are trying to design here is under actuated and
compliant, leading to limited but straightforward control and
the ability to grip a decent variety of objects in a limited
payload range [5]. Compared with other grippers, the
compliance of our claw type gripper is that it will be made
of fewer parts, and it comprises only one actuator, reducing
the complexity and cost significantly. The study of various
types of commercial grippers and aerial manipulators is
studied in [7].
Quadcopter must be obtained. Since it was determined that
the object to be delivered at the site of relief was to be
dropped from rest by the claw mechanism, the only
relatively substantial forces acting upon the mechanism
would be the forces used to maintain the object at static
equilibrium. In this scenario, the sum of the forces acting
within the y-axis direction should be zero at all times
Fy= 4Fg - W= 0
In this case, Fg is the force exerted by each individual
gripper on the object, and W is merely the weight of the
object. Solving for Fg, an equation for the force acting upon
each of the grippers is obtained:
ܹ ݉݃
‫ܨ‬௚ ൌ ൌ
Ͷ Ͷ

TABLE I. COMPARISON BETWEEN DIFFERENT From the above calculations a Quadcopter was designed for
MANIPULATING DEVICES the given specifications of parts and the sensors were
Manipulating Available Stability calibrated with the Flight Controller. In the initial stages a
Cost Difficulty
Devices Range 2.4Ghz Transmitter and Receiver were used to test the
Gripper Low Low Low High stability, altitude and flight time of the drone. Refer Figure 1
Manipulator High High High Middle to understand the basic construction and the interfacing of
the Quadcopter with the help of the Pixhawk Flight
Cable and Middle
Tether
Low Suitable Middle Controller. Various Flight tests using the FlySky FS-i6
2.4GHz 6CH AFHDS RC Transmitter With FS-iA6
Receiver which is interfaced to the Pixhawk Flight
Therefore, the desirable characteristics of aerial
Controller through a PPM Encoder were done using the
manipulators include precise control for overcoming
basic constructed model as demonstrated in Figure 2.
positional errors, versatility for performing a wide variety of
missions, and a simple design that minimizes the
computations needed to control the system. Meeting these
objectives is complicated by the weight and size limitations
of the platform, usually a lightweight multi-copter. Multi-
copters are also highly susceptible to disturbances, noise,
and inaccuracy in a hover and manipulator designs must be
able to compensate for these inaccuracies [8].

III. DESIGNING
A. Kinematics and Manipulation

Reference [9] tells us the most important aspect of the

Quadcopter is its ability to fly. In order for it to have a stable
flight, a simple force analysis along the vertical direction is Fig. 1. Basic Multirotor Connection Block Diagram
taken in order to determine the minimum radius of a
propeller needed to allow the Quadcopter to fly.

Fy= 4T – W

Where T is the thrust supplied by each individual motor and

W is the overall weight of the Quadcopter. This T when
substituted in the following equation of R we get the ideal
size of the propeller to be used in combination with the
UAV.
య
ܴ ൌ  ξ൫ഀುయ೅൯‫כ‬మഏഐ
To be able to run the static simulations on the claw
mechanism of the Quadcopter, an understanding of the
forces that will be acting upon various parts of the Fig. 2. Basic Quadcopter Design

225
Authorized licensed use limited to: Ritsumeikan University. Downloaded on April 20,2023 at 10:08:57 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
B. Claw Gripper Design
 –Š‡ ’”‘’‘•‡† ™‘” –Š‡ ‰”‹’’‡” ‡…Šƒ‹• ‹• ƒŽ•‘
†‡•‹‰‡†–‘‰”ƒ•’‘„Œ‡…–•ƒ‹†‡””‘”•™‹–Š‹Ž‘…ƒ–‹‘ǤŽŽ
‘ˆ –Š‡•‡ ‰”‹’’‡” †‡˜‹…‡• ƒ”‡ —†‡”ƒ…–—ƒ–‡† ƒ†
…‘’Ž‹ƒ–ǡ ƒ† ƒ”‡ ”‡Žƒ–‹˜‡Ž› ‹‡š’‡•‹˜‡
…‘’—–ƒ–‹‘ƒŽŽ›Ǥ ‡ ƒŽ•‘ •Š‘™ ‘„‹Ž‹–› ™‹–Š ƒ ‰‘‘†
˜ƒ”‹‡–› ‘ˆ •Šƒ’‡• ƒ† •‹œ‡• ™Š‡ Šƒ†Ž‹‰ ‘„Œ‡…–•Ǥ
‘‡–Š‡Ž‡••ǡ †—‡ –‘ –Š‡ ƒ„•‡…‡ ‘ˆ ƒ ƒ” ’ƒ”– –Š‡
‰”‹’’‡”• Šƒ˜‡ ”‡•–”‹…–‡† •…‘’‡Ǥ Š‹• ’‘•‡• ƒ •‹‰‹ˆ‹…ƒ–
’”‘„Ž‡ˆ‘”Ǧ‘—–‡†‰”‹’’‡”•ǡƒ•–Š‡‡‡†•–‘
Š‘˜‡” ƒ† ƒ‹–ƒ‹ ’‘•‹–‹‘ ‡ƒ”Ž› †‹”‡…–Ž› ƒ„‘˜‡ ƒ
‘„Œ‡…––‘‰”ƒ•’‹–ǤŠ‡†‡•‹‰‘ˆ–Š‡‰”‹’’‡”™‡ƒ”‡—•‹‰
‹–Š‡’”‘’‘•‡†™‘”‹•„”‘ƒ†Ž›…Žƒ••‹ˆ‹‡†‹–‘–™‘’ƒ”–•
ƒ•†‡‘•–”ƒ–‡†‹ ‹‰—”‡͵ƒ† ‹‰—”‡Ͷ™Š‹…Šƒ”‡–Š‡
„ƒ•‡‘—–ƒ†–Š‡…Žƒ™Ǥ
Fig. 3. Base Fig. 4. Claw
Fig. 5. Servo Motor
D. Flight Controller
Any flight controller is the brain of an aircraft. It's basically
a circuit board with integrated sensors which detects
changes in your drone's orientation. It also receives user
commands, and controls the motors to stabilize the
Quadcopter in the air. We used the 3D Robotics built Flight
microcontroller as seen in Figure 6. It comes with a variety
of accessories that include sensors like the ST Micro
L3GD20 3-axis 16-bit gyroscope, the ST Micro LSM303D
3-axis14-bit accelerometer/magnetometer, the Invensense
MPU 6000 3-axis accelerometer/gyroscope, and the MEAS
MS5611 barometer. Such sensors work with the Pixhawk
flight controller to maintain stability and provide user with
specific input on particular conditions.

Š‡•–”‡ƒŽ‹‡†ǡŽ‹‰Š–™‡‹‰Š–†‡•‹‰™‡ƒ”‡’”‘’‘•‹‰‹•
ƒ‹‡† ’”‹ƒ”‹Ž› ƒ– •ƒŽŽ —Ž–‹Ǧ…‘’–‡”• ƒ† ’”‘˜‹†‡•
ˆŽ‡š‹„‹Ž‹–› ‹ ‰”ƒ•’‹‰ ‘„Œ‡…–• ‘ˆ ƒŽŽ •Šƒ’‡• ƒ†
†‹‡•‹‘•Ǥƒ…Šˆ‹‰‡”…ƒ„‡‘’‡”ƒ–‡†•‡’ƒ”ƒ–‡Ž›ƒ†
’”‡…‹•‡Ž›•‘–Šƒ–•’‡…‹ˆ‹…ƒ”–‹ˆƒ…–•…ƒ„‡ƒ‹’—Žƒ–‡†„›
–Š‡ ‰”‹’’‡” ‡…Šƒ‹•Ǥ Žƒ™ǦŽ‹‡ ‰”‹’’‡”ǡ ƒ• ‹– ‹•
…ƒ’ƒ„Ž‡ ‘ˆ ‰”ƒ•’‹‰ Žƒ”‰‡ ‘„Œ‡…–• –Šƒ– ƒ”‡ ‹””‡‰—Žƒ”Ž›
•Šƒ’‡†ǡ ƒ –ƒ• ‘ˆ–‡ „‡›‘† –Š‡ …ƒ’ƒ„‹Ž‹–‹‡• ‘ˆ ƒ”ǦŽ‹‡
ƒ‹’—Žƒ–‘”•ǤŠ‡”‘‡Žƒ™™‹ŽŽ„‡ƒ„Ž‡–‘’‹…ƒŽ‘ƒ†
‘ˆ ƒ”‘—† ͺͲͲ‰• ‹ …‘Œ—…–‹‘ ™‹–Š –Š‡ “—ƒ†…‘’–‡”Ǥ
Š‡•›•–‡‹•„ƒ•‡†‘Ž‘™Ǧ…‘•–…‘’‘‡–•™Š‹…Š…ƒ
”‡†—…‡–Š‡ ‰”‹’’‡”̵•‡ˆˆ‹…‹‡…›ƒ†…ƒ’ƒ„‹Ž‹–‹‡•ǤŠ‡Ž‘™
Fig. 6. Flight Controller
…‘•–”—…–‹‘…‘•–ǡŠ‘™‡˜‡”ǡƒŽŽ‘™•–Š‡‰”‹’’‡”ƒ……‡••‹„Ž‡
–‘Žƒ„‘”ƒ–‘”‹‡•–‘„—‹Ž†ˆ‘”‡ƒ•›’”‘–‘–›’‹‰ǤŠ‡•‹’Ž‡
†‡•‹‰ƒŽ•‘Š‡Ž’•‹–Š‡‡ƒ•‡‘ˆ„—‹Ž†‹‰ƒ†”‡’ƒ‹”Ǥ‹–Š Understanding how to connect a Servo Motor to the Flight
–Š‡ ƒ‹† ‘ˆ ‹šŠƒ™ Ž‹‰Š– ‘–”‘ŽŽ‡” ƒ† ‡”˜‘ ‘–‘”• Controller is demonstrated in Figure 7 and configure it for
–Š‡ Žƒ™ ™‹ŽŽ „‡ …‘–”‘ŽŽ‡†Ǥ Š‡ ’‹‡…‡• ƒ”‡ ’”‹–ƒ„Ž‡ ‹ use as a gripper which is useful for delivery applications. If
͵™‹–Š‡ƒ•‡Ǥ using Copter, we connect the servo to AUX OUT 1, 2, 3 or
4. MAIN OUT 1 to 8 should be avoided because these
update at 400Hz. The Pixhawk Microcontroller cannot
C. Servo Motor provide power to the servos so an external BEC or ESC that
 •‡”˜‘ ‘–‘” ‹• ƒ ‘–‘” ™Š‹…Š ‹• †‡•‹‰‡† –‘ …‘–”‘Ž can provide 5V should be used.
–Š‡ ”‘„‘–‹… …Žƒ™ǯ• ƒ‰Ž‡ ‘ˆ ”‘–ƒ–‹‘ǡ •’‡‡† ƒ†
ƒ……‡Ž‡”ƒ–‹‘Ǥ ƒ•‹…ƒŽŽ›ǡ –Š‡ ‘–‘” …‘–”‘ŽŽ‡” ”‡…‡‹˜‡• ƒ
ˆ‡‡†„ƒ…•‹‰ƒŽ‹†‹…ƒ–‹‰–Š‡‘–‘”•Šƒˆ–̵•’‘•‹–‹‘ƒ†
†‡–‡”‹‡•Š‘™–Š‡‡š–…‘–”‘Ž•‹‰ƒŽ–‘„‡•‡––‘–Š‡
‘–‘”•Š‘—Ž†„‡ƒŽ–‡”‡†Ǥ‹’Ž‡”•‡”˜‘‘–‘”•ƒ”‡ƒ
‘–‘” …‘–”‘ŽŽ‡† „› ƒ ‹…”‘’”‘…‡••‘” –Šƒ– ”‡…‡‹˜‡•
…‘–”‘Ž•‹‰ƒŽ•ˆ”‘ƒ‡š–‡”ƒŽ…‘’—–‡”‹–Š‡ˆ‘”‘ˆ
 •‹‰ƒŽ•Ǥ Š‡ ‡”˜‘ ‘–‘” ™Š‹…Š ™‡ ™‹ŽŽ „‡
‡’Ž‘›‹‰ ‹ –Š‡ ’”‘’‘•‡† ™‘” ‹• –Š‡ 
ͻ͸Ͳ ‡”˜‘
Fig. 7. Flight Controller with Servo Motor
‘–‘”†‡‘•–”ƒ–‡†‹ ‹‰—”‡ͷǤ–™‡‹‰Š•ͳ͵‰ƒ†Šƒ•
ƒ‘’‡”ƒ–‹‰˜‘Ž–ƒ‰‡‘ˆˆ”‘ͶǤͺǦ͸Ǥ͸Ǥ


226
Authorized licensed use limited to: Ritsumeikan University. Downloaded on April 20,2023 at 10:08:57 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
E. Configuration Steps of the Flight Controller :
• CONTROLLING DRONE CLAW FROM BASE
TABLE II. EXPERIMENTAL VALIDATION OF THE COMBINED
STATION: SYSTEM WITH DIFFERENT PAYLOADS AT DIFFERENT ALTIUDES

The gripper can be opened or closed in real-time

applications during the flight from the ground station if the Altitude of the UAV
Payload
ground station sends a command called
Carried 10m 50m 100m 150m
COMMAND_LONG along with the command field set to by the UAV
DO_GRIPPER but there are no ground stations that support
doing this. Grasp for Each Trial
50 gm Good Good Good Good
• CONTROLLING DRONE CLAW DURING A
150gm Good Good Good Good
MISSION:
The gripper position in the aerial system can be controlled 250gm Good Good Good Fair
during a mission in AUTO mode using the DO_GRIPPER
400gm Good Good Fair Poor
command. Set the "drop/grab" column to 0 to close the
gripper, 1 to open the gripper which is conveyed via Figure 450 gm Good Good Fair Poor
8
500 gm Good Fair Poor Poor

Fig. 8. Flight Controller Configurations

The UAV system was also checked for proper flight and
landing stability with the desired payload and the claw’s
prototype as shown in figure 9 and 10.
F. Experimental Validation and Testing the Servo Motor
with Claw Prototype :
The claw type gripper system that is demonstrated in this
paper is working in combination with the UAV and thus the
payload lifting capacity of the vehicle also influences the
lifting capacity of the claw. We have conducted a series of
payload lifting experiments with the Claw’s prototype both
with and without the drone and accordingly have understood
the operational capabilities and limitations of our prototype.
A normal plastic gripper is tied with the help of zip ties on
the servo motor and this servo motor is calibrated to the
Flight Control using the Mission Planner settings and
controlled via the RC Remote Controller and opened and
closed during the flight mission as demonstrated in the figure Fig. 9. Quadcopter flight stability with payload at an altitude
10. For ease of operation we have conducted the testing
using the RC Remote only and then later calibrated it with a
telemetry module.
The testing of the combined system is done keeping two
important things under consideration and those are the
payload and the altitude of the UAV with respect to ground
level. Different observations were seen for different altitudes
and payloads which are demonstrated in the table 2 given
below. The testing was done in an open area and considering
all the atmospheric effects on the stability of the UAV at a
desired altitude it was observed that maximum altitude at
which the drone is stable is around 100-115 meters with a
payload of around 400-475 grams when tested with the
plastic claw model which resembles in weight with the
expected claw to be fabricated. Stability was also obtained at
lower altitudes. The testing was done only to determine the
payload lifting capacity of the system but the grasping
Fig. 10. Quadcopter reaching the destination
capacity of the claw with respect to irregular objects was not
the focus of the experiment. Hence a plastic water bottle of
maximum payload of 1000gms was used for the experiment
and testing was done by adding more quantity of water every
time.

227
Authorized licensed use limited to: Ritsumeikan University. Downloaded on April 20,2023 at 10:08:57 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
 G. Telemetry Module Setup with the Flight Controller:
Telemetry module is basically used in a UAV to retrieve the
Flight Information of the UAV on your digital device at the
base station such as a laptop or Radio Monitor. We have
used a 433 MHz Pixhawk / Ardupilot telemetry kit that
allows us to establish a telemetry connection between our
drone and our computer. The telemetry kit consists of one
serial board module which is mounted on our drone and one
USB to connect to the computer at the base station and the
system provides a full-duplex link using HopeRF's HM-TRP
modules running custom, open source firmware. The
physical connection while configuring the telemetry radio is
shown in Figure 11.
For planning a mission with waypoints and events we have
to first set the home (return) position for the UAV and then
set the Mission Commands like LOITER_TURNS for the
number of turns, directions and location to loiter around and
DO Commands.
Fig. 11. Telemetry Radio Configuration
In Figure 12, the mission of the UAV starts with an auto
takeoff to 20 meters altitude and then moves to WP 2 rising
to 100 meters altitude on the way and then waits for 10
seconds; then the craft will proceed to WP 3 (descending to
50 meters altitude on the way), then returns to the starting
point. After reaching the launch position, the craft will land.
This is the setup for the UAV’s independent movement.
V. CONCLUSION
Fig. 12. Waypoint settings in Mission Planner GUI
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS:
The maximum payload that can be lifted by the claw type
gripper is controlled by the gripper itself and the payload
capacity of the designed UAV. After several
experimentations and flight tests it was also understood that
228
Authorized licensed use limited to: Ritsumeikan University. Downloaded on April 20,2023 at 10:08:57 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
servo torque was the major limiting factor and that could be
easily eliminated with the help of stronger servos. After
testing the prototype claw is done and when the actual
fabricated design for the claw will be tested and
implemented as a combined system with the Quadcopter,
the UAV is expected to have a minimum flight time of
about 12 minutes with the payload to be carried at the
required destination for the rescue operation with the help of
the 3000 mAhLiPo Battery with satisfactory stability. The
Claw will be able to carry light weighing objects like Water
Bottles in Figure 13 Emergency medicines or First aid,
Blood bags or any other small object for testing or research
purpose which can weigh upto 475-500 gms effectively via
the claw itself or with the help of a bag attached to the claw
as in Figure 14. Also, the claw system weighs less than 300
grams and can be easily manufactured at a low cost.
The system points towards some obvious limitations such as
the inability of the gripper to adjust the opening of the claw
depending on the basis of the objects irregular structure.
Also, the end effectors of the claw that we have used in this
paper are only dual in number and have moderate thickness
but the number of the effectors can be increased for better
grasp and manipulation and they can have an improved end
effector design with more compliance that exponentially
increases the grasp success rate. In future systems, the
gripper could also be integrated with a system to
autonomously identify and locate the target object.
Fig. 13. System carrying a bottle Fig. 14. System carrying a bag
We have designed and manufactured a lightweight, low-cost
claw for aerial manipulation gripper system for search and
rescue missions that exhibit both precise control and
versatility –competing objectives typically traded off by
traditional manipulators for aerial manipulation. The gripper
is robust against different effects on the environment. As a
result, it can manipulate offset objects as well as irregularly
shaped objects. The gripper is fully actuated and actively
compliant, leading to precise control and its two-finger
design makes it easy to grasp small objects and bags and
many other such objects which traditional manipulators
cannot effectively lift. The UAV can be used in Search and
Rescue Operations in combination with an IR or Thermal
Camera which has extensive applications in the Sector as
well as it can be used for medical emergencies and teaching
learning aids as well. Many more sectors will be open to the
functioning of such a UAV when coupled with more
customized features.
 REFERENCES
[1] Giones, F., &Brem, A. (2017). From toys to tools: The co-
evolution of technological and entrepreneurial developments in
the drone industry. Business Horizons, 60(6), 875–884.
[2] Magistretti, S., &Dell’Era, C. (2018). Unveiling opportunities
afforded by emerging technologies: evidence from the drone
industry. Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, 1–18.
[3] Kumar, V., & Michael, N. (2012). Opportunities and challenges
with autonomous micro aerial vehicles. The International
Journal of Robotics Research, 31(11), 1279–1291
[4] H. Abaunza, P. Castillo, A. Victorino, and R. Lozano, “Dual
Quaternion Modeling and Control of a Quad-rotor Aerial
Manipulator,” Journal of Intelligent & Robotic Systems, pp. 1–
17, Mar. 2017
[5] Kruse, L., & Bradley, J. (2018). A Hybrid, Actively Compliant
Manipulator/Gripper for Aerial Manipulation with a
Multicopter. 2018 IEEE International Symposium on Safety,
Security, and Rescue Robotics (SSRR)
[6] V. Lippiello and F. Ruggiero, “Cartesian Impedance Control of
a UAV with a Robotic Arm,” IFAC Proceedings Volumes, vol.
45, no. 22, pp. 704–709, Jan. 2012.
[7] Welch, C. R., Akbarisamani, S., Detweiler, C., & Nelson, C. A.
(2015). Lightweight, Low-Cost, Compliant Grasper for UAV-
Based Pick-and-Place Operations. Volume 5B: 39th
Mechanisms and Robotics Conference
[8] C. R. Welch, S. Akbarisamani, C. Detweiler, and C. A. Nelson,
“Lightweight, low-cost, compliant grasper for uav-based pick-
and- place operations,” in ASME 2015 International Design
Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and
Information in Engineering Conference. American Society of
Mechanical Engineers, 2015, pp. V05BT08A014–
V05BT08A014.
[9] University of Florida A B.S. THESIS on Multi-Purpose Aerial
Drone for Bridge Inspection and Fire Extinguishing prepared by
Raquel Remington, Ramon Cordero, Larry March & Daniel
Villanueva

229
Authorized licensed use limited to: Ritsumeikan University. Downloaded on April 20,2023 at 10:08:57 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
 230
Authorized licensed use limited to: Ritsumeikan University. Downloaded on April 20,2023 at 10:08:57 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.