Energy harvesting based on tethered kites benefits from exploiting higher wind speeds at higher altitudes. The setup considered in this paper is based on a pumping cycle. It generates energy by winching out at high tether forces, driving an electrical generator while flying crosswind. Then it winches in at a stationary neutral position, thus leaving a net amount of generated energy.
The focus of this paper is put on the flight control design, which implements an accurate direction control towards target points and allows for a flight with an eight-down pattern. An extended overview on the control system approach, as well as details of each element of the flight controller, are presented. The control architecture is motivated by a simple, yet comprehensive model for the kite dynamics.
In addition, winch strategies based on an optimization scheme are presented. In order to demonstrate the real world functionality of the presented algorithms, flight data from a fully automated pumping-cycle operation of a small-scale prototype are given. The setup is based on a 30m$^2$ kite linked to a ground-based 50kW electrical motor/generator by a single line.
Delft Institute of Applied Mathematics, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science（代尔夫特应用数学研究所，电气、数学与计算机科学系）；ASSET Institute（ASSET研究所）
A quaternion-based model for optimal control of the SkySails airborne wind energy system
SkySails GmbH（SkySails有限公司）；Systems Control and Optimization Laboratory, Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK), University of Freiburg（弗赖堡大学微系统工程研究所（IMTEK）系统与优化控制实验室）；Department ESAT (STADIUS/OPTEC), KU Leuven University（荷语鲁汶大学ESAT系（STADIUS/OPTEC））
Optimizing Airborne Wind Energy with Reinforcement Learning
University of Groningen（格罗宁根大学）；SISSA International School for Advanced Studies（SISSA国际高等研究院）；PSL University（巴黎文理研究大学）；CNRS（法国国家科学研究中心）；Sorbonne Université（索邦大学）；Université de Paris（巴黎大学）；Université Libre de Bruxelles（布鲁塞尔自由大学）
