Design of a statically balanced passive aerial manipulator for placement and retrieval of magnetic sensors in the environment

Abstract

Inspecting large-scale infrastructure on-site often poses significant risks to operators and incurs high insurance costs. Despite the implementation of various safety measures to prevent accidents, the increasing need to monitor difficult-to-access areas has led to the development of aerial robots capable of interacting with their environment. This paper presents a novel approach to aerial manipulation, featuring a compact passively actuated manipulator designed specifically for the placement and retrieval of magnetic sensors. The proposed design incorporates two-stage (placed and retrieved) static balancing, a simplistic passively actuated Pick&Place mechanism, and a modular structure for payload variations. Experimental results demonstrate the high reliability achieved in both placement and retrieval tasks on vertical surfaces showcasing the robustness and potential of this compact, custom aerial design.