FLIGHT PATH PLANNING OF UAV BASED ON ATMOSPHERIC ENERGY HARVESTING
Open Access
- Author:
- Chakrabarty, Anjan
- Graduate Program:
- Aerospace Engineering
- Degree:
- Master of Science
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- None
- Committee Members:
- Jacob Willem Langelaan, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Jacob Willem Langelaan, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor - Keywords:
- path planning
UAV
energy harvestation - Abstract:
- This thesis presents an approach to planning long distance soaring trajectories which exploit atmospheric energy to enable long distance, long duration flights by small and micro unmanned aerial vehicles. It introduces the energy map, which computes the minimum total energy required to reach the goal from an arbitrary starting point while accounting for the eff ect of arbitrary wind fi elds. The energy map provides the path to the goal as a sequence of way points, the optimal speeds to fly for each segment between way points and the heading required to fly along a segment. Since the energy map is based on the minimum total energy required to reach the goal it immediately answers the question of existence of a feasible solution for a particular starting point and initial total energy. The results obtained from energy map are compared with other generic trajectory planners, namely A*. The A* algorithm used uses a cost function which is the weighted sum of energy required and remaining distance to goal. The effect of varying the weight parameter on the flight paths is examined. The energy expended along a path for varying weight is examined, and the results are compared with a wavefront expansion planning algorithm. The weight is selected based on maximum energy utilization that is available from the atmosphere and minimizing time to reach the goal. Optimal weight is selected based on simulation results. Both the methods of path planning are now used in real wind fi eld data. Energy efficient routes are found in the real wind fi eld using both the methods.