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Aerial Load Transportation with Multiple Quadrotors Based on a Kinematic Controller and a Neural SMC Dynamic Compensation

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Abstract

A novel formation control to transport a cable-suspended payload with two quadrotors is presented. The control structure is based on a layered scheme combining a kinematic null-space based controller and a neural sliding mode controller. The null-space controller is designed to generate velocity references to the quadrotors in the formation, whereas the neural sliding mode controller receives such reference velocities and performs a dynamic compensation for possible parametric uncertainties as well as for the dynamic perturbations caused by the load attached to the quadrotors. The stability of the closed-loop control system thus implemented is also proven with basis on the theory of Lyapunov. Very detailed dynamic models for the quadrotors, the flexible cables, and the payload are included in a highly realistic scenario. To close the work, numerical simulations are presented, whose results demonstrate a good performance of the proposed controller.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Secretary of State for Science, Technology and Innovation of the Government of San Juan (Secretaría de Estado de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación del Gobierno de San Juan), CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas) and the National University of San Juan for the financial support granted to this work. Dr. Sarcinelli-Filho also thanks CNPq – Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, a Brazilian agency that supports scientific and technological development, as well as FAPES – Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Inovação do Espírito Santo, an agency of the State of Espírito Santo, Brazil, that supports scientific and technological development – for financing his cooperation with the Argentinean colleagues.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. INAUT (UNSJ_CONICET), Av. Libertador San Martín oeste 1109, San Juan, Argentina

    Francisco Rossomando, Claudio Rosales, Javier Gimenez, Lucio Salinas, Carlos Soria & Ricardo Carelli

  2. Department of Electrical Engineering, Federal University of Espírito Santo, Vitória, 29075-910, Brazil

    Mario Sarcinelli-Filho

Authors
  1. Francisco Rossomando
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  2. Claudio Rosales
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  3. Javier Gimenez
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  4. Lucio Salinas
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  5. Carlos Soria
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  6. Mario Sarcinelli-Filho
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  7. Ricardo Carelli
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Correspondence to Francisco Rossomando.

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Rossomando, F., Rosales, C., Gimenez, J. et al. Aerial Load Transportation with Multiple Quadrotors Based on a Kinematic Controller and a Neural SMC Dynamic Compensation. J Intell Robot Syst 100, 519–530 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-020-01195-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-020-01195-z

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