A geometric control approach for multi-UAV cooperative payload transfer

This paper proposes a novel method of transporting a safety-critical rigid payload with multiple quadrotor UAVs using a geometric control approach. A simple and tractable model of the connected system has been derived directly from the configuration space of the interconnected system utilizing the framework of Lagrangian and geometric mechanics. A tractable geometric controller has been proposed directly on the configuration space of the connected system for trajectory tracking of both the payload and the quadrotors. The controller has been derived on the configuration space of the system, and the mathematical asymptotic convergence of the errors has been provided. The proposed geometric controller does not require link information and is practically less complex. Since the controller does not require linear/angular acceleration of payload, the proposed controller can be easily implemented in a practical scenario. A realistic simulation in Gazebo and ROS is carried out to validate the tracking performance.