Proximal cooperative aerial manipulation with vertically stacked drones

Huazi Cao, Jiahao Shen, Yin Zhang, Zheng Fu, Cunjia Liu, Sihao Sun and Shiyu Zhao ()
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Huazi Cao: Westlake University
Jiahao Shen: Westlake University
Yin Zhang: Westlake University
Zheng Fu: Westlake University
Cunjia Liu: Loughborough University
Sihao Sun: Delft University of Technology
Shiyu Zhao: Westlake University

Nature, 2025, vol. 646, issue 8085, 576-583

Abstract: Abstract Enabling vertical-stack proximal cooperation between multirotor flying robots can facilitate the execution of complex aerial manipulation tasks. However, vertical-stack proximal flight is commonly regarded as a dangerous condition that should be avoided because of persistent and intense downwash interference generated between flying robots1,2. Here we propose a cooperative aerial manipulation system, called FlyingToolbox, that can work stably with sub-centimetre-level docking accuracy under vertical-stack flight conditions. The system consists of a toolbox micro-aerial vehicle (MAV) and a manipulator MAV. The robotic arm of the manipulator MAV can autonomously dock with a tool carried by the toolbox MAV, in which the docking accuracy reaches 0.80 ± 0.33 cm in the presence of downwash airflow of up to 13.18 m s−1. By enabling midair tool exchange in proximity, FlyingToolbox resolves the paradox between flight proximity and manipulation accuracy, suggesting a new model for heterogeneous and interactive flying robot cooperation in diverse applications3–5.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09575-x

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