The efficiency of tower crane will decrease, moreover hidden safety problems existing because of swing of the heavy load in the operation of the tower crane. The dynamics model of the tower crane was analyzed, and a kind of fuzzy neural network sliding mode controller based on PSO was designed using for tower crane positioning and antiswing control. The fuzzy neural network was used for identification of tower crane model uncertainties, and PSO algorithm was used to optimize parameters of the sliding mode controller. The method reduces the chattering of sliding mode control system, improves the performance of the control system. The simulation results show the effectiveness and feasibility of the method.