Trajectory Generation for Swing-Free Maneuvers of a Quadrotor with Suspended Payload: A Dynamic Programming Approach

In this paper, we address the problem of agile swing-free trajectory tracking of a quadrotor with a suspended load. This problem has great practical significance in many UAV applications. However, it has received little attention in the literature so far. Flying with a suspended load can be a very challenging and sometimes hazardous task as the suspended load significantly alters the flight characteristics of the quadrotor. In order to deal with this problem, we propose a technique based on dynamic programming which ensures swing-free trajectory tracking. We start by presenting the mathematical model of a quadrotor with suspended load dynamics and kinematics. A high-level planner is used to provide desired waypoints, and then a dynamic programming approach is used to generate the swing-free trajectory for the quadrotor carrying a suspended load. Effectiveness of this method is demonstrated by numerical simulations and experiments.