Aerial service robotics: The AIRobots perspective

This paper presents the main vision and research activities of the ongoing European project AIRobots (Innovative Aerial Service Robot for Remote Inspection by Contact, www.airobots.eu). The goal of AIRobots is to develop a new generation of aerial service robots capable of supporting human beings in all those activities that require the ability to interact actively and safely with environments not constrained on ground but, indeed, airborne. Besides presenting the main ideas and the research activities within the three-year project, the paper shows the first technological outcomes obtained during the first year and a half of activity.