Preface: Visual Guidance of Unmanned Aerial Manipulators

Abstract

The ability to fly has greatly expanded the possibilities for robots to perform surveillance, inspection, or map generation tasks. Yet, it was only in recent years that research in aerial robotics was mature enough to allow active interactions with the environment. The robots responsible for these interactions are called aerial manipulators and usually combine a multirotor platform and one or more robotic arms. The main objective of this book is to formalize the concept of aerial manipulator and present guidance methods, using visual information, to provide them with autonomous functionalities