Energy-Optimized Planning in Non-Uniform Wind Fields with Fixed-Wing Aerial Vehicles

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Duan, Yufei, Achermann, Florian, Lim, Jaeyoung, Siegwart, Roland
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Duan, Yufei
Achermann, Florian
Lim, Jaeyoung
Siegwart, Roland
author_facet Duan, Yufei
Achermann, Florian
Lim, Jaeyoung
Siegwart, Roland
contents Fixed-wing small uncrewed aerial vehicles (sUAVs) possess the capability to remain airborne for extended durations and traverse vast distances. However, their operation is susceptible to wind conditions, particularly in regions of complex terrain where high wind speeds may push the aircraft beyond its operational limitations, potentially raising safety concerns. Moreover, wind impacts the energy required to follow a path, especially in locations where the wind direction and speed are not favorable. Incorporating wind information into mission planning is essential to ensure both safety and energy efficiency. In this paper, we propose a sampling-based planner using the kinematic Dubins aircraft paths with respect to the ground, to plan energy-efficient paths in non-uniform wind fields. We study the planner characteristics with synthetic and real-world wind data and compare its performance against baseline cost and path formulations. We demonstrate that the energy-optimized planner effectively utilizes updrafts to minimize energy consumption, albeit at the expense of increased travel time. The ground-relative path formulation facilitates the generation of safe trajectories onboard sUAVs within reasonable computational timeframes.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2404_02077
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Energy-Optimized Planning in Non-Uniform Wind Fields with Fixed-Wing Aerial Vehicles
Duan, Yufei
Achermann, Florian
Lim, Jaeyoung
Siegwart, Roland
Robotics
Fixed-wing small uncrewed aerial vehicles (sUAVs) possess the capability to remain airborne for extended durations and traverse vast distances. However, their operation is susceptible to wind conditions, particularly in regions of complex terrain where high wind speeds may push the aircraft beyond its operational limitations, potentially raising safety concerns. Moreover, wind impacts the energy required to follow a path, especially in locations where the wind direction and speed are not favorable. Incorporating wind information into mission planning is essential to ensure both safety and energy efficiency. In this paper, we propose a sampling-based planner using the kinematic Dubins aircraft paths with respect to the ground, to plan energy-efficient paths in non-uniform wind fields. We study the planner characteristics with synthetic and real-world wind data and compare its performance against baseline cost and path formulations. We demonstrate that the energy-optimized planner effectively utilizes updrafts to minimize energy consumption, albeit at the expense of increased travel time. The ground-relative path formulation facilitates the generation of safe trajectories onboard sUAVs within reasonable computational timeframes.
title Energy-Optimized Planning in Non-Uniform Wind Fields with Fixed-Wing Aerial Vehicles
topic Robotics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.02077