An efficient way for path planning of cooperative autonomously soaring gliders

This thesis attempts to solve the problem of planning paths for a group of gliding UAVs performing a task. These gliders have start and goal configurations (positions and orientations) in 2-dimensional space and also a starting altitude. This can be thought of as the starting energy of the glider. The task, given to the gliders, is to visit a set of \textit{interest points} in 2-dimensions. Since the gliders start with a limited energy and are constantly losing it, the paths should be planned such that the energy lost while traveling over the paths is minimized. Moreover, exploitation of free energy present in the environment, called \textit{Autonomous Soaring}, can also be used to maximize the range of the aircraft, potentially allowing the gliders to visit even more interest points. The task of planning paths for the gliders is decoupled into two parts (i) planning the best sequence of waypoint visitation (for each glider) and, (ii) planning paths over these sequences. This decoupled approach results in increased computational efficiency of the framework. The first section of the thesis deals with assignment and sequencing of waypoints for each glider, such that the cumulative energy lost by the team of gliders is minimized. This section uses an estimate of the actual energy, spent by the gliders going from point to point. The second section deals with planning paths over this sequence of waypoints, such that the dynamic constraints of the gliders are respected and the energy lost by each glider, over the course of its mission, is minimized. Each section starts with a review of the literature relevant to that topic. The problem is formulated in a rigorous way and is followed by the proposed solution. Any theoretical guarantees which follow from the proposed solution are stated and proved. After which simulation results are presented.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Mechanical Engineering

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Zaman, Muhammad Aneeq Uz

• Cooperative Autonomous Soaring
• Cooperative Control
• Optimal Path Planning
• Optimization

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2015 Muhammad Aneeq uz Zaman

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/78547

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F78547