This paper presents a novel approach for autonomously mounting a sensor package on a vertical surface with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The Interacting-BoomCopter (I-BC) UAV uses an on-board webcam and computer along with a horizontally-mounted reversible propeller on its front boom to autonomously perform the aerial manipulation task. An overview of the vehicle design is presented along with the image processing algorithms used for target tracking, and the implementation of an extended finite state machine (EFSM) for carrying out the high-level autonomous control. The effectiveness of the autonomous control strategy and I-BC platform are examined through the performance of several autonomous sensor mounting flight tests.

This paper presents the design of the Interacting-BoomCopter (I-BoomCopter) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), designed specifically for environmental interactions. The novel design consists of a horizontally mounted four-blade reversible propeller on a front boom that is attached to a standard tri-rotor UAV configuration. A custom end-effector and force sensor is placed at the end of the front boom for autonomous pushing and pulling interaction tasks. The modeling of the new platform is presented and two prototype versions built, flight tested, and characterized. Finally, the efficacy of the new platform for environmental interactions is evaluated with an autonomous door opening task and a teleoperated door opening and door closing task.