ModCAM: scalable multi-UAV system for cooperative aerial manipulation

Modular aerial robots such as UAVs equipped with manipulation mechanisms offer significant potential for tasks like payload transportation and operations in hazardous environments. We introduce ModCAM, a novel aerial manipulation technique employing cooperative UAVs for autonomous navigation and payload transport in GPS-denied environments. Our system features a multi-degree-of-freedom (M-DoF) manipulator that uses a push-based method to elevate payloads above the UAVs, enhancing maneuverability and reducing slipstream effects. Our adaptive localization method, utilizing Visual-Inertial Odometry (VIO), across four UAVs ensures precise formation control, maintaining an optimal spacing of 1 meter. The prototype UAVs utilize custom-built components and open-source hardware to ensure reproducibility within the research community. The stability and effectiveness of our system are validated through simulations and real-world experiments, achieving tracking errors of ±0.35 rad/s for pitch and ±0.79 rad/s for roll.