High-performance coupled kinematics of aerial continuum manipulation systems for control applications

This paper presents a generalized discrete coupled kinematic model for a tendon-driven aerial continuum manipulation system (TD-ACMS) based on the strain parameterization of the Cosserat rod theory. The proposed model enables simultaneous control of both the aerial platform’s states and all six forms of deformation in the segments of the continuum robot (CR), overcoming the limitations of existing models that only consider bending in two directions. By deriving the coupled Jacobian for the CR segments in a conventional format, the design of kinematic-based control schemes is streamlined, eliminating the need to solve stiff differential–algebraic equations. A comparative study highlights the model’s efficiency in executing an image-based visual servoing (IBVS) task with a customized tendon path. The results demonstrate its superiority over previous approaches, particularly in following time-efficient and complex trajectories. The effectiveness of the model and servoing algorithm is validated through an experimental study using a real-world aerial continuum manipulation prototype.