Cooperative aerial payload transport guided by an in situ human supervisor

This paper defines and analyzes a cooperative aerial payload transport mission in which an onsite human supervisor provides haptic motion cues. While multiple small aerial robots (e.g., quadcopters) carry the weight of the payload, a human specifies traversal direction changes to the quadcopter team by exerting a pushing force on the payload. We show how the principle of linear momentum can be used for limited human intent recognition in this supervisory control application. This problem is formulated as real-time path planning of the quadcopter team using a continuum deformation cooperative control protocol that assures avoidance of interagent and obstacle collisions as well as safety of the human supervisor.