This paper studies the kinematic tracking control problem for aerial manipulators. Existing kinematic tracking control methods, which typically employ proportional-derivative feedback or tracking-error-based feedback strategies, may fail to achieve tracking objectives within specified time constraints. To address this limitation, we propose a novel control framework comprising two key components: end-effector tracking control based on a user-defined preset trajectory and quadratic programming-based reference allocation. Compared with state-of-the-art approaches, the proposed method has several attractive features. First, it ensures that the end-effector reaches the desired position within a preset time while keeping the tracking error within a performance envelope that reflects task requirements. Second, quadratic programming is employed to allocate the references of the quadcopter base and the Delta arm, while considering the physical constraints of the aerial manipulator, thus preventing solutions that may violate physical limitations. The proposed approach is validated through three experiments. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm and its capability to guarantee that the target position is reached within the preset time.

翻译：本文研究空中机械臂的运动学跟踪控制问题。现有的运动学跟踪控制方法通常采用比例微分反馈或基于跟踪误差的反馈策略，可能无法在规定时间约束内实现跟踪目标。为解决这一局限性，我们提出了一种包含两个关键组件的新型控制框架：基于用户定义预设轨迹的末端执行器跟踪控制，以及基于二次规划的参考分配。与现有先进方法相比，所提方法具有若干突出特点。首先，它确保末端执行器在预设时间内到达期望位置，同时将跟踪误差限制在反映任务要求的性能包络内。其次，通过二次规划对四旋翼基座与Delta机械臂的参考量进行分配，同时考虑空中机械臂的物理约束，从而避免可能违反物理限制的解。所提方法通过三项实验进行验证。实验结果表明了该算法的有效性及其保证目标位置在预设时间内到达的能力。