This paper presents a floating robot capable of performing physically interactive tasks in unstructured environments with human-like dexterity under human supervision. The robot consists of a humanoid torso attached to a hexacopter. A two-degree-of-freedom head and two five-degree-of-freedom arms equipped with softhands provide the requisite dexterity to allow human operators to carry out various tasks. A robust tendon-driven structure is purposefully designed for the arms, considerably reducing the impact of arm inertia on the floating base in motion. In addition, tendons provide flexibility to the joints, which enhances the robustness of the arm preventing damage in interaction with the environment. To increase the payload of the aerial system and the battery life, we use the concept of Suspended Aerial Manipulation, i.e., the flying humanoid can be connected with a tether to a structure, e.g., a larger airborne carrier or a supporting crane. Importantly, to maximize portability and applicability, we adopt a modular approach exploiting commercial components for the drone hardware and autopilot, while developing a whole-body outer control loop to stabilize the robot attitude, compensating for the tether force and for the humanoid head and arm motions. The humanoid can be controlled by a remote operator, thus effectively realizing a Suspended Aerial Manipulation Avatar. The proposed system is validated through experiments in indoor scenarios reproducing post-disaster tasks.

翻译：本文提出了一种可在非结构化环境中执行物理交互任务的浮动机器人，其在人类监督下具备类人灵巧操作能力。该机器人由类人躯干与六旋翼飞行器组成。配备两自由度头部和两只五自由度软体手手臂，为操作人员执行多样任务提供所需灵巧性。手臂采用鲁棒性腱驱动结构设计，显著降低了手臂惯性对运动过程中浮动基座的影响。此外，腱索结构赋予关节柔顺性，增强了手臂与环境交互时防止损伤的鲁棒性。为提升空中系统的有效载荷与电池续航能力，本文采用悬挂式空中操控（Suspended Aerial Manipulation）概念——即仿人飞行器可通过系绳连接至大型空中载体或支撑起重机等结构。重要的是，为最大化便携性与适用性，我们采用模块化方案，在利用商用组件实现无人机硬件与自动驾驶仪的同时，开发全身外部控制回路以稳定机器人姿态，补偿系绳拉力及仿人头部与手臂运动。该仿人机器人可由远程操作员控制，从而有效实现悬挂式空中操控化身。通过复现灾后任务的室内场景实验验证了所提系统的有效性。