Integration of linear extended state observer within proxy-based sliding mode control for a cable-driven aerial manipulator

Aerial manipulators with active operation capabilities have a wide range of applications, but the design of their high-performance controller will be challenging due to internal uncertainties and external disturbances. This article proposes a novel composite control strategy for a cable-driven aerial manipulator, integrating proxy-based sliding mode control and linear extended state observer technique. In this control structure, proxy-based sliding mode control can modify the behavior of the aerial manipulator in joint space, such as tracking accuracy, system safety, and chattering reduction. Meanwhile, the linear extended state observer can estimate and compensate for the lumped disturbances, which enhances the robustness of the designed controller. The stability and convergence of the proposed controller are proved by the Lyapunov theory. Several simulation results show that our controller outperforms the other two existing controllers in terms of control precision, convergence, and robustness.