Disturbance Compensation Based Sliding Mode Control for Aerial Soft Manipulator System

Aerial manipulation is an emerging area of research that is experiencing rapid growth and has immense potential across various domains, including precision agriculture, construction, and search and rescue operations. The combination of quadrotor with manipulation capabilities can provide access to remote or hazardous areas, precise control over tasks, and increased efficiency and safety in operations. However, traditional aerial manipulation platforms equipped with rigid manipulators have such drawbacks greater weight and less safety. Consequently, a novel complaint aerial manipulation system is considered to be developed. In this paper, a novel structure of an aerial manipulation platform with a single-section continuum manipulator is developed. In order to address the center-of-mass displacement resulting from manipulator movements, a sliding mode controller is introduced as a means to ensure the quadrotor's flight remains smooth. Afterward, the Lyapunov theorem is employed to ensure stability of the entire closed-loop system. Subsequently, numerical simulations are carried out to showcase the superior performance of the proposed control scheme in comparison to the PD controller.