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Airborne Wind Energy pp 215–239Cite as

Attitude Tracking Control of an Airborne Wind Energy System

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Part of the book series: Green Energy and Technology ((GREEN))

Abstract

We consider attitude tracking control for an airborne wind energy system, which generates electricity through a turbine mounted on a tethered glider flying at higher altitude than conventional wind turbines. The airborne wind energy system, which efficiently harnesses energy due to high-speed crosswind motion, consists of a rigid glider (also referred as a rigid kite) and constant length tether connected to the ground. Full aircraft dynamics are modeled including a rotational equation of motion. The resulting dynamical system is an under-actuated mechanical system with only rotational control inputs. We first propose an attitude tracking theorem that provides desired tracking signals for rotational motion. A feedback linearization controller and a real time differentiator are designed and implemented on the full glider dynamics to try to achieve the desired angle of attack and sideslip angle. A comparison study is conducted between a Lyapunov-based and attitude tracking control for the same baseline conditions for the airborne wind energy system.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aerospace Engineering Program, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA, 01609, USA

    Haocheng Li, David J. Olinger & Michael A. Demetriou

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  1. Haocheng Li
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  2. David J. Olinger
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  3. Michael A. Demetriou
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Correspondence to David J. Olinger .

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  1. Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands

    Roland Schmehl

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Li, H., Olinger, D.J., Demetriou, M.A. (2018). Attitude Tracking Control of an Airborne Wind Energy System. In: Schmehl, R. (eds) Airborne Wind Energy. Green Energy and Technology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1947-0_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1947-0_10

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  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-1946-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-1947-0

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