This paper presents a novel Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) payload designed to perform semi-autonomous contact inspection tasks in vertical structures. The presented system includes on-board positioning capabilities to calculate the distance and angle between the structure and the UAV that support the navigation in the neighbourhood of the structure, considered a GPS-denied area. The collected navigation parameters are the basis to control two horizontal propellers included in the payload and aimed to push the system against the structure gently and to perform the contact. Also, the proposed system has been compared to previous designs based on UAV’s pitch signal control, highlighting the advantages of the new prototype. A series of tests conducted in a controlled environment demonstrate an improved contact to the structure in terms of stability and reliability, showing a contact-bounce reduction of 54.4% compared to previous experiments.

本文介绍了一种新颖的无人机（UAV）有效载荷，旨在在垂直结构中执行半自主接触检查任务。所提出的系统包括机载定位功能，可计算结构与支持在结构附近（被视为GPS拒绝区域）的无人机的无人机之间的距离和角度。收集的导航参数是控制有效载荷中包括的两个水平螺旋桨的基础，旨在将系统轻轻推向结构并执行接触。此外，该建议系统已与基于无人机俯仰的设计进行了比较信号控制，突出了新原型的优势。在受控环境中进行的一系列测试表明，与结构的接触在稳定性和可靠性方面有所改善，与以前的实验相比，接触反弹减少了54.4％。