Control Method for Helicopters Tethered to Ground Station with Compensation for Disturbance Caused by Cable Tension

Abstract

This paper proposes cable tension compensation control method for helicopters cabled to a ground station. This method can be applied to human-operated systems and reduces the required control skill. The cable tension vector is measured by a force sensor and an angle sensor mounted to the helicopter. Thrust and helicopter attitude to balance with resultant force of tension and gravity are calculated and automatically added to attitude controller input calculated by using PID control. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate the validity of the proposed method.