🤖 AI Summary
This study addresses the challenge of accurately modeling flexible cables in multi-UAV slung-load systems by departing from the conventional massless rigid-link assumption. A high-fidelity discrete-link cable model with optimizable parameters is proposed, formulated using Euler-Newton dynamics and efficiently simulated through the integration of Featherstone’s rigid-body algorithm with parameter sweeping techniques. Experimental validation against real-world flight data demonstrates that payload translational errors remain below 132 mm and attitude errors are less than 11.4°. Furthermore, the empirically collected dataset has been made publicly available as open source. This work provides a highly reliable research benchmark for advancing the modeling and control of cooperative multi-UAV aerial transportation systems.
📝 Abstract
A common assumption to simplify the problem of controlling a multi-UAV slung load system (MUSLS) is that the flexible cables can be modeled as massless rigid rods. In this work, we propose an alternative Euler-Newton derived dynamical model which uses a series of rigid links to model the flexible cables. The model is specifically designed to allow efficient simulation using Featherstone's articulated body algorithm. We perform real-world validation of this model on gentle, aggressive, and tension-engagement maneuvers and run a parameter sweep to determine the number of links, joint damping, and joint friction to achieve the greatest model fidelity. The model closely matches real-world flight data with mean load translation errors below 132 mm (5.5% of the cable length) and orientation errors below 11.4 degrees. We make the real-world flight data publicly available for the development of future cable models.