The aerial manipulator is a special and new type of flying robot composed of a rotorcraft unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and a/several manipulator/s. It has gained a lot of attention since its initial appearance in 2010. This is mainly because it enables traditional UAVs to conduct versatile manipulating tasks from air, considerably enriching their applications. In this survey, a complete and systematic review of related research on this topic is conducted. First, various types of structure designs of aerial manipulators are listed out. Subsequently, the modeling and control methods are introduced in detail from the perspective of two types of typical application cases: free-flight and motion-restricted operations. Finally, challenges for future research are presented.

空中操纵器是一种特殊的新型飞行机器人，由旋翼飞机无人飞行器（UAV）和一个/多个操纵器组成。自2010年首次亮相以来，它就引起了广泛的关注。这主要是因为它使传统的无人机能够从空中执行多种操作任务，从而极大地丰富了其应用范围。在本次调查中，对该主题的相关研究进行了完整而系统的综述。首先，列出了各种类型的空中机械手的结构设计。随后，从两种典型应用案例的角度详细介绍了建模和控制方法：自由飞行和运动受限操作。最后，提出了未来研究的挑战。