Aerial Load Transportation with Multiple Quadrotors Based on a Kinematic Controller and a Neural SMC Dynamic Compensation

A novel formation control to transport a cable-suspended payload with two quadrotors is presented. The control structure is based on a layered scheme combining a kinematic null-space based controller and a neural sliding mode controller. The null-space controller is designed to generate velocity references to the quadrotors in the formation, whereas the neural sliding mode controller receives such reference velocities and performs a dynamic compensation for possible parametric uncertainties as well as for the dynamic perturbations caused by the load attached to the quadrotors. The stability of the closed-loop control system thus implemented is also proven with basis on the theory of Lyapunov. Very detailed dynamic models for the quadrotors, the flexible cables, and the payload are included in a highly realistic scenario. To close the work, numerical simulations are presented, whose results demonstrate a good performance of the proposed controller.