Optimal composite nonlinear feedback control for a gantry crane system

This paper investigates an optimal design of composite nonlinear feedback control law for a gantry crane system. The control objective is to drive the trolley of the gantry crane system to a target position as fast as possible without any overshoot while the load is limited in a specified swaying angle. An optimal linear feedback control problem and an optimal composite nonlinear feedback control problem are respectively formulated as parameter optimization problems under the same performance index and restrictions on stability, tracking overshoot, and swaying angle. To handle the multi-restrictions, the particle swarm optimization algorithm is applied to solve the parameter optimization problems. The transient performance under the optimal linear feedback control and the optimal composite nonlinear feedback control are compared by applying the designed control laws to a gantry crane system.