Nonlinear Anti-swing Control of Underactuated Tower Crane Based on Improved Energy Function

The control system of tower crane exhibits strong nonlinearity in the process of control execution, which is prone to the problems of inaccurate positioning control of the payload and difficult anti-swing control. Aiming at the problems, this paper proposes a control law based on improved energy coupling analysis for suppressing the payload swing in the tower cranes. A three-dimensional dynamic model of tower crane system with considering friction is established, and an improved energy coupling signal is designed. The coupling relationship of trolley movement and payload swing, jib rotation and payload swing are considered, then a nonlinear anti-swing controller is established in order to reduce the swing. The closed-loop stability of the system with the controller is verified by the Lyapunov method and LaSalle invariance principle, simulations and experimental analyses are performed to verify the controller performance. The control performance of the controller is compared with other classic and typical current control methods, and the proposed controller outperformed other controllers. The anti-swing controller proposed in this paper has accurate positioning, and can achieve precise control when the payload is transported, reaching the set target position in a little time and eliminating residual swing angle. Meanwhile the proposed controller has a good control robustness, which can restore stability in around a very short time when the rope length and payload mass of the system’s inherent property are changed and external interference is added. In addition, when different target position parameters are uncertain, the proposed control law has good robust performance.