Tension-Based Reconfigurable Multi-Agent Formation for Aerial Load Transportation

This paper proposes a trajectory tracking controller for a cable-suspended load transported by <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">n</i> unmanned aerial vehicles based on Euler angle states. This is accomplished using the resultant tension on the load as a virtual input and then distributing it to each vehicle, for which low-level controllers generate the correct thrust and torque values. Furthermore, a leader-follower-based control is proposed to safely change the number of agents carrying the load. Numerical simulations are presented to validate the controllers. Finally, experiments show that the proposed method effectively makes the load perform as expected and allows one to change the formation configuration without severely impacting the load navigation.