LAAS-2016

LAAS-CNRS

Laboratoire d’Analyse et d’Architecture des Systèmes
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
www.laas.fr

Short description of the organization

Established in 1967, Laboratoire d’Analyse et d’Architecture des Systèmes (LAAS) is a laboratory of the French National Organisation for Scientific Research (CNRS), and it is associated with the University of Toulouse. LAAS has a permanent staff of over 320, together with (on average) 260 doctorate students. Research at LAAS covers Automatic Control, Computer Science and Engineering, and Microelectronics. The Robotics department (nearly 80 staff, PhD students and postdocs), is active in a wide spectrum of researches on intelligent and autonomous robotic systems. The team involved in this proposal is composed of members from the Robotics and Interactions group (RIS).

Role in the project and main tasks

CNRS-LAAS brings to AEROARMS his competence in motion planning and control for multi-rotor flying robots. More precisely, LAAS will lead Workpackage 6. CNRS-LAAS will also contribute substantially to Workpackages 3, 4 and 7. The role of CNRS-LAAS in the project will be focussed on the development of methods for planning and control of joint flight and manipulation motions, focussing on a synergistic integration of control models within planning algorithms. CNRS-LAAS will also contribute to the design and prototyping of an innovative flying manipulator structure, and to the validation of planning and control of the overall architecture and the identification of the decisional processes (autonomous or based on mixed initiative) in the AEROARMS framework.

Relevant previous experience

CNRS-LAAS has solid competence and has contributed substantially to Motion and Task Planning (including multi-robot motion planning, assembly planning, grasping and manipulation), and to researches on autonomous aerial robots (airships, fixed-wing drones and quad-rotors). These competences have recently been augmented by researches on force control for drones and haptic-based drone teleoperation. CNRS-LAAS has also a confirmed experience in participation and coordination of International, European or National collaborative projects.

Main Scientists Involved in the Project


  • PI (Local Coordinator): Antonio Franchi (CNRS Tenured Researcher) received the Ph.D. degree in system engineering from the Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy in 2010. He was a visiting scholar at the University of California at Santa Barbara; research scientist in the human-robot interaction group at the Max Planck Institute for Biol. Cybernetics (MPI-KYB) in Tuebingen, Germany; Senior research scientist and the project leader of the autonomous robotics and human-machine systems group at the MPI-KYB. Since 2014 he has been a permanent CNRS researcher in the RIS group at LAAS-CNRS, Toulouse, France.
    His main research interests include autonomous systems and robotics, with a special regard to control, planning, estimation, human-machine systems, haptics, and hardware/software architectures. His main areas of expertise are multiple-robot systems and aerial robotics.
    He is an associate editor of the IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine. He is the co-founder and co-chair of the IEEE RAS Technical Committee on Multiple Robot Systems.
  • Cortes_pict copy
    Juan Cortés (CNRS Tenured Researcher) received the engineering degree in control and robotics from the Universidad de Zaragoza (Spain) in 2000. In 2003, he received the Ph.D. degree in robotics from the Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse (France). From 2004, he is CNRS researcher at LAAS (Toulouse, France). His research interest is focused on the development of algorithms for computing and analyzing the motion of complex systems, with applications in robotics and structural biology. He has participated in numerous projects both at the European and at the French national levels. Juan Cortés was co-chair of the IEEE-RAS TC on Algorithms for Planning and Control of Robot Motion between 2009 and 2015.
  • Markus Ryll (Postdoc)

    •  

  • Tognon_pict-copy.jpg
    Marco Tognon  (PhD student) is a PhD student at Laboratory for Analysis and Architecture of Systems (LAAS), working in the RIS group under the supervision of Antonio Franchi  and of Juan Cortés. He got the master degree in Automation Engeneering at the University of Padua, Padua, Italy, under the supervision of Prof. Ruggero Carli, after an internship at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in the Autonomous Robotics and Human-Machine Systems  group under the supervision of Antonio Franchi.
    His research interest consists on motion planning, control and estimation for autonomous system and in particular for aerial robots interacting with the environment.

  • Davide Bicego  (PhD student) is a PhD student at Laboratory for Analysis and Architecture of Systems (LAAS), working in the RIS group under the supervision of Antonio Franchi. He got the master degree in Automation Engineering at the University of Padua, Padua, Italy, under the supervision of Prof. Ruggero Carli, after an internship at LAAS in the RIS group, under the supervision of Antonio Franchi and Markus Ryll.
    His research interest consists in modeling, design and control of Fully Actuated aerial robots interacting with the environment.

  • Hermes Tello Chavez  (Research engineer) is a Research engineer at Laboratory for Analysis and Architecture of Systems (LAAS), working in the RIS group under the supervision of Antonio Franchi  and of Juan Cortés. He got the master degree in Robotics at the Ecole Centrale de Nantes, France. His contribution consists on motion planning for aerial manipulation.

Key publications during the project

Fully-actuated Multi-rotor Aerial Robots:

    • Ryll M, Bicego D, Franchi A. Modeling and Control of FAST-Hex: a Fully-Actuated by Synchronized-Tilting Hexarotor. In: 2016 IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and System. 2016 IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems. Daejeon, South Korea; 2016.
      DOI: 10.1109/IROS.2016.7759271
      https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01348538
    • Ryll M, Muscio G, Pierri F, Cataldi E, Antonelli G, Caccavale F, Franchi A. 6D Physical Interaction with a Fully Actuated Aerial Robot. In: 2017 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation. 2017 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation. Singapore; 2017.
      DOI: 10.1109/ICRA.2017.7989608
      https://hal.laas.fr/hal-01476814
    • Staub N, Bicego D, Sablé Q, Arellano-Quintana V, Mishra S, Franchi A. Towards a Flying Assistant Paradigm: the OTHex. In: 2018 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation. 2018 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation. Brisbane, Australia; 2018.
      DOI: yet to come
      https://hal.laas.fr/hal-01716845/
    • Franchi A, Carli R, Bicego D, Ryll M. Full-Pose Tracking Control for Aerial Robotic Systems with Laterally-Bounded Input Force. In: IEEE Trans. on Robotics. 2018; 34(2):534-541.
      DOI: 10.1109/TRO.2017.2786734
      https://hal.laas.fr/hal-01710770/
    • Tognon M, Franchi A. Omnidirectional Aerial Vehicles with Unidirectional Thrusters: Theory, Optimal Design, and Control. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters. 2018 ;3(3):2277-2282.
      DOI: 10.1109/LRA.2018.2802544
      https://hal.laas.fr/hal-01704054/
    • Nainer C, Furci M, Seuret A, Zaccarian L, Franchi A. Hierarchical Control of the Over-Actuated ROSPO Platform via Static Input Allocation. In: 20th IFAC World Congress. 20th IFAC World Congress. Toulouse, France; 2017.
      DOI: 10.1016/j.ifacol.2017.08.2260
      https://hal.laas.fr/hal-01496283v2/
    • Morbidi F, Bicego D, Ryll M, Franchi A. Energy-Efficient Trajectory Generation for a Hexarotor with Dual-Tilting Propellers. In 2018 IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems. Madrid, Spain; 2018.
      DOI: yet to come
      https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01891460
    • Yang H, Staub N, Franchi A, Lee D. Modeling and Control of Multiple Aerial-Ground Manipulator System with Load Flexibility. In 2018 IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems. Madrid, Spain; 2018.
      DOI: 10.1109/IROS.2018.8593834
      https://hal.laas.fr/hal-01964779/
    • Franchi A. Platforms with Multi-directional Total Thrust. In Aerial Robotic Manipulation, 2019.
    • Tognon M, Chávez HATello, Gasparin E, Sablé Q, Bicego D, Mallet A, et al.. A Truly Redundant Aerial Manipulator System with Application to Push-And-Slide Inspection in Industrial Plants. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters. 2019;4(2):1846-1851.
      DOI: 10.1109/LRA.2019.2895880
      https://hal.laas.fr/hal-01910343/
    • Sarkisov Y, Kim MJ, Bicego D, Tsetserukou D, Ott C, Franchi A, et al.. Development of SAM: cable-Suspended Aerial Manipulator. In 2019 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation. Montreal, Canada; 2019.
      DOI: yet to come
      https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02069383

     

    Planning and Control for Aerial Manipulation:

    • Yüksel B, Buondonno G, Franchi A. Differential Flatness and Control of Protocentric Aerial Manipulators with Any Number of Arms and Mixed Rigid-/Elastic-Joints. In: 2016 IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems. 2016 IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and System. Daejeon, South Korea; 2016.
      DOI: 10.1109/IROS.2016.7759109
      https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01350867
    • Yüksel B, Staub N, Franchi A. Aerial Robots with Rigid/Elastic-joint Arms: Single-joint Controllability Study and Preliminary Experiments. In: 2016 IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems. 2016 IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and System. Daejeon, South Korea; 2016.
      DOI: 10.1109/IROS.2016.7759268
      https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01348545
    • Yüksel B, Mahboubi S, Secchi C, Bülthoff HH, Franchi A. Design, Identification and Experimental Testing of a Light-Weight Flexible-joint Arm for Aerial Physical Interaction. In: 2015 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation. 2015 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation. Seattle, WA; 2015. pp. 870-876.
      DOI: 10.1109/ICRA.2015.7139280
      https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01135205/
    • Staub N, Mohammadi M, Bicego D, Prattichizzo D, Franchi A. Towards Robotic MAGMaS: Multiple Aerial-Ground Manipulator Systems. In: 2017 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation. 2017 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation. Singapore; 2017.
      DOI: 10.1109/ICRA.2017.7989154
      https://hal.laas.fr/hal-01476813/
    • Tognon M, Yüksel B, Buondonno G, Franchi A. Dynamic Decentralized Control for Protocentric Aerial Manipulators. In: 2017 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation. 2017 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation. Singapore; 2017.
      DOI: 10.1109/ICRA.2017.7989753
      https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01388450/
    • Delamare Q, Robuffo Giordano P, Franchi A. Towards Aerial Physical Locomotion: the Contact-Fly-Contact Problem. In: IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, Special Issue on Aerial Manipulation. 2018 ;3:1514-1521.
      DOI: 10.1109/LRA.2018.2800798
      https://hal.laas.fr/hal-01704043/
    • Tognon M, Cataldi E, Tello Chavez H, Antonelli G, Cortés J, Franchi A. Control-Aware Motion Planning for Task-Constrained Aerial Manipulation. In: IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, Special Issue on Aerial Manipulation. 2018 ;3(3):2478-2484.
      DOI: 10.1109/LRA.2018.2803206
      https://hal.laas.fr/hal-01704127/
    • Ollero A, Heredia G, Franchi A, Antonelli G, Kondak K, Sanfeliu A, Viguria A, {Martinez-de Dios} J R, Pierri F, Cort\’es J, Santamaria-Navarro A, Trujillo M A, Balachandran R, Andrade-Cetto J, Rodriguez A. The {AEROARMS} Project: Aerial Robots with Advanced Manipulation Capabilities for Inspection and Maintenance. In: IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine. 2018 ;25(4):12-23.
      DOI: 10.1109/MRA.2018.2852789
      https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/LAAS-ROBOTIQUE/hal-01870107v1
    • Staub N, Mohammadi M, Bicego D, Delamare Q, Yang H, Prattichizzo D, et al.. The Tele-MAGMaS: an Aerial-Ground Co-manipulator System. IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine. 2018;25(4):66-75.
      DOI: 10.1109/MRA.2018.2871344
      https://hal.laas.fr/hal-01476813/
    • Yüksel B, Secchi C, Bülthoff HH, Franchi A. Aerial Physical Interaction via IDA-PBC. The International Journal of Robotics Research. In Press;.
      DOI: yet to come
      https://hal.laas.fr/hal-01964753/
    • Franchi A. Interaction Control of Platforms with Multi-directional Total Thrust. In Aerial Robotic Manipulation, 2019.

     

    Control, Planning and Observation for Tethered Aerial Robots:

    • Tognon M, Testa A, Rossi E, Franchi A. Takeoff and Landing on Slopes via Inclined Hovering with a Tethered Aerial Robot. In: 2016 IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems. 2016 IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems. Daejeon, South Korea; 2016. pp. 1702-1707.
      DOI: 10.1109/IROS.2016.7759273
      https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01350883
    • Tognon M, Dash SS, Franchi A. Observer-based Control of Position and Tension for an Aerial Robot Tethered to a Moving Platform. In: IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters. 2016 :732-737.
      DOI: 10.1109/LRA.2016.2523599
      https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01285318
    • Tognon M, Franchi A. Nonlinear Observer for the Control of Bi-Tethered Multi Aerial Robots. In: 2015 IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems. Hamburg, Germany; 2015. pp. 1852-1857.
      DOI: 10.1109/IROS.2015.7353619
      https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01182759
    • Tognon M, Franchi A. Control of Motion and Internal Stresses for a Chain of Two Underactuated Aerial Robots. In: 14th European Control Conference. Linz, Austria; 2015. pp. 1620-1625.
      DOI: 10.1109/ECC.2015.7330769
      https://hal.laas.fr/hal-01137736v1
    • Tognon M, Franchi A. Position Tracking Control for an Aerial Robot Passively Tethered to an Independently Moving Platform. In: 20th IFAC World Congress. 20th IFAC World Congress. Toulouse, France; 2017.
      DOI: 10.1016/j.ifacol.2017.08.242
      https://hal.laas.fr/hal-01501919/
    • Tognon M, Franchi A. Landing and take-off on/from sloped and non-planar surfaces with more than 50 degrees of inclination. In: 2017 International Micro Air Vehicle Conference. Toulouse, France; 2017. pp. 97-102.
      DOI: yet to come
      https://hal.laas.fr/hal-01673466/
    • Tognon M, Franchi A. Dynamics, Control, and Estimation for Aerial Robots Tethered by Cables or Bars. In: IEEE Transaction on Robotics. 2017 ;33(4):834-845.
      DOI: 10.1109/TRO.2017.2677915
      https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01483524

     

    Aerial Telemanipulation:

    • Mohammadi M, Franchi A, Barcelli D, Prattichizzo D. Cooperative Aerial Tele-Manipulation with Haptic Feedback. In: 2016 IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and System. Daejeon, South Korea; 2016. pp5092-5098
      DOI: 10.1109/IROS.2016.7759747
      https://hal.laas.fr/hal-01348539v2
    • Masone C, Mohammadi M, Robuffo Giordano P, Franchi A. Shared Planning and Control for Mobile Robots with Integral Haptic Feedback. The International Journal of Robotics Research. 2018;37(11):1395-1420.
      DOI: 10.1177/0278364918802006
      https://hal.inria.fr/hal-01878912/

     

    Aerial Robots:

    • Spedicato S, Franchi A, Notarstefano G. From Tracking to Robust Maneuver Regulation: an Easy-to-Design Approach for VTOL Aerial Robots. In: 2016 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation. 2016 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation. Stockholm, Sweden; 2016. pp. 2965-2970.
      DOI: 10.1109/ICRA.2016.7487461
      https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01271988/
    • Franchi A, Mallet A. Adaptive Closed-loop Speed Control of BLDC Motors with Applications to Multi-rotor Aerial Vehicles. In: 2017 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation. 2017 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation. Singapore; 2017.
      DOI: 10.1109/ICRA.2017.7989610
      https://hal.laas.fr/hal-01476812/
    • Michieletto G, Ryll M, Franchi A. Control of Statically Hoverable Multi-Rotor Aerial Vehicles and Application to Rotor-Failure Robustness for Hexarotors. In: 2017 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation. 2017 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation. Singapore; 2017.
      DOI: 10.1109/ICRA.2017.7989320
      https://hal.laas.fr/hal-01476816/
    • Michieletto G, Cenedese A, Zaccarian L, Franchi A. Nonlinear Control of Multi-Rotor Aerial Vehicles Based on the Zero-Moment Direction. In: 20th IFAC World Congress. 20th IFAC World Congress. Toulouse, France; 2017.
      DOI: 10.1016/j.ifacol.2017.08.2168
      https://hal.laas.fr/hal-01513229/
    • Solana Y, Furci M, Cortés J, Franchi A. Multi-Robot Path Planning with Maintenance of Generalized Connectivity. In: The 1st Int. Symp. on Multi-Robot and Multi-Agent Systems. The 1st Int. Symp. on Multi-Robot and Multi-Agent Systems. Los Angeles, CA; 2017.
      DOI: 10.1109/MRS.2017.8250932
      https://hal.laas.fr/hal-01658557/
    • Michieletto G, Ryll M, Franchi A. Fundamental Actuation Properties of Multi-rotors: Force-Moment Decoupling and Fail-safe Robustness. In: IEEE Trans. on Robotics. 2018 ;34(3).
      DOI: 10.1109/TRO.2018.2821155
      https://hal.laas.fr/hal-01612602/
    • Faessler M, Franchi A, Scaramuzza D. Differential Flatness of Quadrotor Dynamics Subject to Rotor Drag for Accurate Tracking of High-Speed Trajectories. In: IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters. 2018 ;3(2):620-626.
      DOI: 10.1109/LRA.2017.2776353
      https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01658577
    • Arellano-Quintana V, Merchan-Cruz E, Franchi A. A Novel Experimental Model and a Drag-optimal Allocation Method for Variable-Pitch Propellers in Multirotors. IEEE Access. 2018;6:68155-68168.
      DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2018.2879636
      https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01940465

     

    Onboard estimation for aerial robtos

    • Sanchez-Lopez J-L-L, Arellano-Quintana V, Tognon M, Campoy P, Franchi A. Visual Marker based Multi-Sensor Fusion State Estimation. In: 20th IFAC World Congress. 20th IFAC World Congress. Toulouse, France; 2017.
      DOI: yet to come
      https://hal.laas.fr/hal-01501980/

     

    Motion and Path Planning

    • L. Denarie, K. Molloy, M. Vaisset, T. Siméon and J. Cortés. Combining System Design and Path Planning. In: International Workshop on the Algorithmic Foundations of Robotics (WAFR), San Francisco, December 2016.
      DOI: yet to come
      https://hal.inria.fr/hal-01364042
    • K. Molloy, L. Denarie, M. Vaisset, T. Siméon, and J. Cortés. Simultaneous system design and path planning: A sampling-based algorithm. In: The International Journal of Robotics Research, July 2018.
      DOI: 10.1177/0278364918783054
      http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0278364918783054

     

    Key  publications before the project

    • Rajappa S, Ryll M, Bülthoff HH, Franchi A. Modeling, Control and Design Optimization for a Fully-actuated Hexarotor Aerial Vehicle with Tilted Propellers. In: 2015 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation. 2015 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation. Seattle, WA; 2015. pp. 4006-4013.
    • Gioioso, G., M. Ryll, D. Prattichizzo, H. H. Bülthoff, and A. Franchi. Turning a Near-hovering Controlled Quadrotor into a 3D Force Effector. In: 2014 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, Hong Kong, China, 05/2014.
    • Gioioso G, Mohammadi M, Franchi A, Prattichizzo D. A Force-based Bilateral Teleoperation Framework for Aerial Robots in Contact with the Environment. In: 2015 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation. 2015 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation. Seattle, WA; 2015. pp. 318-324.
    • M. Manubens, D. Devaurs, L. Ros, J. Cortés. Motion planning for 6-D manipulation with aerial towed-cable systems. In: Robotics Science and Systems (RSS), 2013
    • Franchi, A., C. Secchi, M. Ryll, H. H. Bülthoff, and P. Robuffo Giordano. Shared Control: Balancing Autonomy and Human Assistance with a Group of Quadrotor UAVs. In: IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine, Special Issue on Aerial Robotics and the Quadrotor Platform, vol. 19, issue 3, pp. 57-68, 09/2012
    • S. Cambon R. Alami, F. Gravot. A hybrid approach to intricate motion, manipulation and task planning. In: The International Journal of Robotics Research, 28(1) :104-126, 2009.
    • J. Cortés, L. Jaillet, T Siméon. Disassembly path planning for complex articulated objects. In: IEEE Transactions on Robotics, Vol 24 (2), 2008