A Planar Experimental Remote-Controlled Helicopter With a Suspended Load

A small-scale helicopter testbed has been constructed to study the dynamics and control of helicopters carrying suspended loads. This paper presents an overview of the testbed, a dynamic model of the helicopter-load system, and a procedure used to estimate the unknown model parameters. An example experiment demonstrates the testbed's usefulness: A pilot-like feedback controller was applied to the helicopter, and horizontal repositioning maneuvers were performed. Adding input shaping to the controller caused a reduction in the maximum and residual load swing during the repositioning maneuver.