The AutoSOAR autonomous soaring aircraft, part 1: Autonomy algorithms

• Published in: Journal of field robotics Vol. 35; no. 6; pp. 868 - 889
• Main Authors: Depenbusch, Nathan T., Bird, John J., Langelaan, Jack W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01-09-2018
• Subjects: aerial robotics; Aircraft; Aircraft components; Airspeed; Algorithms; Autonomy; bioinspired methods; Decision making; exploration; Finite state machines; Flight behavior; Flight planning; Flight tests; mapping; Navigation; planning; Soaring; State estimation; Thermal mapping
• ISSN: 1556-4959; 1556-4967
• DOI: 10.1002/rob.21782

Autonomous soaring has the potential to greatly improve both the range and endurance of small robotic aircraft. This paper describes an autonomous soaring system that generates a dynamic map of lift sources (thermals) in the environment and uses this map for online flight planning and decision making. Components of the autonomy algorithm include thermal mapping, explore/exploit decision making, navigation, optimal airspeed computation, thermal centering control, and energy state estimation. A finite state machine manages the aircraft behavior during flight and determines when changing behavior is appropriate. A complete system to enable autonomous soaring is described with special attention paid to practical considerations encountered during flight testing. A companion paper describes the hardware implementation of this system and the results of a flight test campaign conducted at Aberdeen Proving Ground in September 2015.