Arbitrary Convergence Time Control of Unmanned Aerial Manipulator for Active Interaction and Dynamic Tracking

This article investigates the problem of aerial active interaction for unmanned aerial manipulator under unknown contact force and lumped disturbances composed of modeling uncertainties and environmental interferences. A dynamic tracking interaction control architecture with arbitrary convergence time is proposed to implement both compliant aerial interaction and stable tracking flight. Particularly, an arbitrary convergence time nonlinear disturbance observer is designed to estimate interaction force in the absence of force sensors. A Takagi–Sugeno–Kang fuzzy estimator with k-closest fuzzy rule interpolation is constructed to derive an approximation in representing lumped disturbances. Also, an arbitrary convergence time control strategy is introduced for the quadrotor to implement the rapid response and precise trajectory tracking control, and an admittance controller within arbitrary convergence time for the onboard manipulator is presented to guarantee stable compliant interaction. The stability of the proposed control architecture is analyzed through Lyapunov theory. The feasibility and performance of this novel control architecture are demonstrated through simulations and real-world investigation on tracking and touching mobile robot dynamically.