Path Tracking Control with State Estimation based on Constrained Zonotopes for Aerial Load Transportation

This work deals with the problem of path tracking of a suspended load using a tilt-rotor UAV. Such task requires the knowledge of the load position, which may not be provided by available sensors. Therefore, to accomplish the path tracking, a set-valued state estimator based on constrained zonotopes is proposed to solve the problem of estimating the load position and orientation, considering sensors with different sampling times, and unknown-but-bounded disturbances. Moreover, to provide feedback to the controller based on the estimated state set, an optimal state choice is given according to a proposed constrained minimum-variance criteria. The path tracking is then solved by a discrete-time mixed H-2/H-infinity controller with pole-placement constraints. Results from numerical experiments, performed in a platform based on the Gazebo simulator with a Computer Aided Design (CAD) model of the system, are presented to corroborate the performance of the set-valued state estimator along with the designed controller.