Trajectory generation and control of a quadrotor with a cable-suspended load - A differentially-flat hybrid system

Abstract

A quadrotor with a cable-suspended load with eight degrees of freedom and four degrees underactuation is considered and the system is established to be a differentially-flat hybrid system. Using the flatness property, a trajectory generation method is presented that enables finding nominal trajectories with various constraints that not only result in minimal load swing if required, but can also cause a large swing in the load for dynamically agile motions. A control design is presented for the system specialized to the planar case, that enables tracking of either the quadrotor attitude, the load attitude or the position of the load. Stability proofs for the controller design and experimental validation of the proposed controller are presented.