Helicopter UAV systems for in situ measurements and sensor placement

The use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) is growing in research and civil applications. Advancing technology offers huge potential which is just starting being used. We present a method to have a helicopter UAS interacting with the environment physically. This basic technology, which includes high precision control and a vision system can be adapted for different in situ measurement tasks. Applications cover a wide range from placement of sensors or direct measurements to sampling. While UAS systems get more complex, we describe a way of interacting with a them by means of an interactive control framework, which can also include other systems and sensors.