Cooperative path-following for multirotor UAVs with a suspended payload

In this paper, we present a cooperative control strategy for a team of multirotor type UAVs to lift a suspended payload. The interconnected system is modeled by the Udwadia-Kalaba equations of constrained motion. A robust path-following controller is developed for each vehicle in the system, and coordination is achieved through synchronization of the path parameterization. Stability of the interconnected system consisting of a network of local path-following controllers is analyzed. Results are verified by numerical simulations.

[1]  Richard M. Murray,et al.  INFORMATION FLOW AND COOPERATIVE CONTROL OF VEHICLE FORMATIONS , 2002 .

[2]  Roger Skjetne,et al.  Robust output maneuvering for a class of nonlinear systems , 2004, Autom..

[3]  P. Olver.  Nonlinear Systems , 2013 .

[4]  Carlos Silvestre,et al.  Coordinated Path-Following Control of Multiple Autonomous Underwater Vehicles , 2007 .

[5]  Antonio Pedro Aguiar,et al.  A Packet Loss Compliant Logic-Based Communication Algorithm for Cooperative Path-Following Control , 2013 .

[6]  Firdaus E. Udwadia,et al.  Explicit Poincaré equations of motion for general constrained systems. Part I. Analytical results , 2007, Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences.

[7]  Taeyoung Lee,et al.  Geometric control of multiple quadrotor UAVs transporting a cable-suspended rigid body , 2014, 53rd IEEE Conference on Decision and Control.

[8]  John T. Wen,et al.  Cooperative Control Design - A Systematic, Passivity-Based Approach , 2011, Communications and control engineering.

[9]  E.M. Atkins,et al.  A survey of consensus problems in multi-agent coordination , 2005, Proceedings of the 2005, American Control Conference, 2005..

[10]  John R. Hauser,et al.  Aggressive flight maneuvers , 1997, Proceedings of the 36th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control.

[11]  Rida T. Farouki,et al.  Pythagorean-Hodograph Curves: Algebra and Geometry Inseparable , 2007, Geometry and Computing.

[12]  Konstantin Kondak,et al.  Generic slung load transportation system using small size helicopters , 2009, 2009 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[13]  Firdaus E. Udwadia,et al.  Equations of motion for mechanical systems: A unified approach , 1996 .

[14]  Ivar-André F. Ihle,et al.  Formation control by synchronizing multiple Maneuvering systems , 2003 .

[15]  Peter I. Corke,et al.  Multirotor Aerial Vehicles: Modeling, Estimation, and Control of Quadrotor , 2012, IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine.

[16]  Vijay Kumar,et al.  Planning and control for cooperative manipulation and transportation with aerial robots , 2011, Int. J. Robotics Res..

[17]  António Manuel Santos Pascoal,et al.  Coordinated path-following control for nonlinear systems with logic-based communication , 2007, 2007 46th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control.

[18]  H. Nijmeijer,et al.  Group coordination and cooperative control , 2006 .

[19]  Morten Bisgaard,et al.  Modeling, Estimation, and Control of Helicopter Slung Load System , 2008 .

[20]  M. Areak,et al.  Passivity as a design tool for group coordination , 2006, 2006 American Control Conference.

[21]  Carlos Silvestre,et al.  Coordinated Path-Following in the Presence of Communication Losses and Time Delays , 2009, SIAM J. Control. Optim..