Differential Flatness-Based Parameter Estimation for Suspended Load Drones

Abstract

The transportation of goods by drones using cable towing has recently attracted considerable attention. When flying a suspended load drone, any discrepancy between the mathematical model and the actual drone deteriorates control performance. However, because some physical parameters are difficult to measure, creating an accurate mathematical model is extremely difficult. Therefore, we propose a parameter estimation method using differential flatness that can be extended for application to suspended load drones. This method overcomes the problem of dealing with higher-order derivatives of flat outputs and enables the estimation of physical parameters. In this study, we experimentally show that the proposed method improves trajectory tracking performance.