LEADER STEERING METHOD FOR THE GUIDANCE AND CONTROL OF MULTI-LIFT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM

Abstract

The Leader Steering method is a new concept for guidance and control of a multi-lift transportation system. The multi-lift transportation system contains multiple vehicles that are physically wired to a load. They have to collaborate for transporting the load. This paper suggests that one vehicle is set as the leader and others are porters. The leader has full information of navigation but the porters do not need to. The leader pulls the load to one direction, the load and the porters would follow the leader due to the connected wires. A slung-load system is modelled based on the Udwadia-Kalaba equation (UKE), which is a powerful tool to handle slung-load dynamics, especially for its possibility for the variations on the system. In this research, the Leader Steering method is developed based on the slung-load model. This paper deals with the waypoint guidance for smooth turns, climb and descent, holding phase control for a safe stop and the coordination of the vehicles. Through several simulations with the model, it is shown that the Leader Steering method is very effective and useful for the control of the multi-lift transportation system.