Tracking control with adaption of kites

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new control method for tethered kites that uses differential geometry and Lyapunov-based adaptive control to accurately follow geometric trajectories, validated through simulations.

Contribution

It presents a novel tracking paradigm utilizing the differential-geometric notion of turning angle and develops an adaptive controller based on this principle.

Findings

Controller successfully tracks geometric trajectories in simulations.

The adaptive controller requires only control derivatives of the aerodynamic model.

Method demonstrates robustness and effectiveness in simulated scenarios.

Abstract

A novel tracking paradigm for flying geometric trajectories using tethered kites is presented. It is shown how the differential-geometric notion of turning angle can be used as a one-dimensional representation of the kite trajectory, and how this leads to a single-input single-output (SISO) tracking problem. Based on this principle a Lyapunov-based nonlinear adaptive controller is developed that only needs control derivatives of the kite aerodynamic model. The resulting controller is validated using simulations with a point-mass kite model.