Anti-Swing Nonlinear Path Tracking Controller for Helicopter Slung Load System

In this paper a tracking controller is designed for a helicopter plus slung load system. The controller designed is nonlinear and is based on the Backstepping method. First we develop a comprehensive nonlinear mathematical model of the helicopter and design the nonlinear Backstepping controller for trajectory tracking for the helicopter alone. Then we model the slung load mathematically as a slung load and integrate it to the helicopter system. In the next step we design the delayed feedback controller for load swing damping which works independent of the nonlinear tracking controller. The anti-swing controller for load is optimized for best performance by the differential evolution (DE). Finally we present the simulation and results to illustrate the effectiveness of the method.