SLUNG-LOAD TRAJECTORY CONTROL USING AN INPUT-SHAPING METHOD WITH MODEL-FOLLOWING CONTROL

Abstract

In this paper, a control method for a slung-load transportation system is studied. When a suspended payload is transported by a rotorcraft, a payload stabilization control structure is needed to reduce the excessive swinging of the suspended payload and minimize the control performance degradation of the rotorcraft simultaneously. A control structure employing a slung-load trajectory, which works by combining an input-shaping method (ISM) with a model-following control (MFC) technique, is proposed to control the slung-load system. The advantage of the proposed controller is that the intended payload oscillation induced by the ISM is not considered as a disturbance of the MFC structure. Finally, a simulation programme is employed to verify that the proposed payload stabilization controller operates as intended and to analyse its performance. The simulation results show that the proposed controller improves the relative robustness with respect to the model errors as well as the control performance when compared to the existing controllers.