# Collaborative Object Manipulation on the Water Surface by a UAV-USV Team Using Tethers

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.08580 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.08580/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 11 Jul 2024.

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [Drone Carrier: An Integrated Unmanned Surface Vehicle for Autonomous Inspection and Intervention in GNSS-Denied Maritime Environment](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.12869/) (2025)
- [LLM-VLM Fusion Framework for Autonomous Maritime Port Inspection using a Heterogeneous UAV-USV System](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.13096/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

This paper introduces an innovative methodology for object manipulation on the surface of water through the collaboration of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and an Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) connected to the object by tethers. We propose a novel mathematical model of a robotic system that combines the UAV, USV, and the tethered floating object. A novel Model Predictive Control (MPC) framework is designed for using this model to achieve precise control and guidance for this collaborative robotic system. Extensive simulations in the realistic robotic simulator Gazebo demonstrate the system's readiness for real-world deployment, highlighting its versatility and effectiveness. Our multi-robot system overcomes the state-of-the-art single-robot approach, exhibiting smaller control errors during the tracking of the floating object's reference. Additionally, our multi-robot system demonstrates a shorter recovery time from a disturbance compared to the single-robot approach.