Control Strategies for Real-Time Aerial Manipulation With Multi-Dof Arms: A Survey

This survey summarizes key control approaches and architectures that reflect the state-of-the-art in aerial manipulation. The central objective is to provide a thorough resource for researchers exploring multirotor configurations suitable for real-time aerial manipulation applications. The focus is on evaluating and comparing prototype systems and their corresponding controller designs, emphasizing real-time implementation, regardless of the number of DOFs of the attached manipulator(s) and of specific applications. The survey groups control methods in three categories based on the specific architecture that is followed: coupled, partially coupled, and decoupled. The metrics used for the comparative study include system configuration, total weight, modeling approach, control architecture, robustness, implementation complexity, task execution precision, and achieved results (via simulations or experiments).