An automated flight controller for trajectory tracking of flexible, tethered kites is presented. Due to a lack of validated system models a black-box system identification was carried out. The resulting yawing input-output relation showed good fit with measurement data. The controller consists of two loops, where the outer loop generates a bearing signal designed to minimize the distance error between the kite and the desired trajectory. The inner loop is based on a non-linear dynamic inversion of the presented input-output-relation (feedback linearization), on which a linear P(I)-controller acts. An reference-model based adaptive control law is superimposed and is designed to compensate for insufficient model parameters and neglected dynamics. The controller proved its performance both in simulation and real flight experiments and was able to fly fully automated trajectories for several minutes. However the performance was limited by deadtime and actuator constraints.
Automatic Flight Control of Tethered Kites for Power Generation
2013-12-16
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
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