Control structure design with constraints for a slung load quadrotor system

Abstract

We propose a control structure for a quadrotor carrying a slung load with swing-angle constraints. This quadrotor is supposed to pass through the waypoints at specified speeds. First, a cascaded PID autopilot is designed, which adaptively gives attention to position and speed requirements as a function of their errors. Its parameters are found from an optimization problem solved using the PSO algorithm. Second, this controller’s performance is improved by adding the Complementary Controller employing an ANN. 5. Training data for the ANN is created by solving optimal control problems. The ANN is activated when the swing angle constraint is about to be violated. It is trained using optimal control values corresponding to the cases where the swing angle falls in a particular band about the upper swing angle constraint. Simulations are performed in a MATLAB environment. Finally, some of the simulation results are validated on a physical system.