In this paper, a simple active-model-based control scheme is developed for the quadrotor slung load (QSL) system. The scheme works to improve the rejection of the influences caused by the abruptly changed load as a complementary enhancement while maintaining the structure and parameters of the original controller. A linearized model is first constructed with respect to the hovering state of a quadrotor. Modeling error is then introduced to describe the uncertainties caused by the load change and the simplified model. The modeling error is actively estimated by a Kalman filter (KF), while the estimation is further integrated into a normal controller, to enhance its performance of disturbance rejection. Experiments are conducted on a quadrotor controlled by the Pixhawk, which is one of the most popular controllers commercially available on the market. The improvements of the proposed scheme are shown by the comparisons between the controls with and without the active-model-based enhancement. The experiments also indicate that, with its simple structure and less computational algorithm, this active-model-based enhancement would be a feasible approach to enhance the commercial UAV controller to handle more uncertainties.
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