Unmanned Aerial Manipulators in Construction - Opportunities and Challenges

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have now been accepted as an alternative medium to human workers for data collection processes in various industries. The capabilities of UAVs are now being extended from passive tasks of data collection to active tasks of interacting with the environment by equipping them with robotic arms and function as Unmanned Aerial Manipulators (UAMs). Research on Unmanned Aerial Manipulators has been growing in the last few years. The applications of UAMs in terms of sensor installation, inspections, door opening, valve turning, pick and drop, etc. have been studied for the oil and gas industry, and civil applications, etc. However, there is a lack of studies in understanding applications of UAMs and their capabilities in construction and in advancing construction activities. The goal of this research is to identify potential opportunities and challenges of the application of UAM in construction projects. The study will undertake an extensive literature review and semi-structured interviews with industry experts to address research questions. This study will have a significant contribution to the introduction and development of new contact-based UAV-guided technologies in construction.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Civil Engineering

Department dc:contributor.department

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2020

Author dc:creator

• Nagori, Chinmay

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Afsari, Kereshmeh

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Jazizadeh, Farrokh
• Gao, Xinghua

• aerial manipulation
• construction
• aerial robots
• drones

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Dc Identifier Other

vt_gsexam:29081

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/101663