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Control of Airborne Wind Energy systems in high fidelity simulation environment
Various control approaches for Airborne Wind Energy (AWE) systems have been previously proposed in the literature. The goal of this project is to design a controller leveraging an in-house high fidelity simulation framework and then showing the improved performance in simulation.
Keywords: Airborne Wind Energy, Control Design, Modelling, Simulation
Airborne Wind Energy (AWE) systems harvest wind energy by exploiting the aerodynamic forces generated by autonomous tethered kites, flying fast in crosswind conditions. This technology is able to reach higher altitudes than conventional wind turbines, where the wind is generally stronger and more consistent, while at the same time reducing the construction and installation costs of the generator.
There exists many different control approaches for AWE systems, some of which have been tested on a real world system setup.
While many control approaches for AWE systems use a very simplified description of the system, the focus of this project will be on the investigation of control design strategies that make use of a richer description of the physical problem. This will be possible thanks to the availability of a high fidelity simulation environment developed by the CMAS lab at D-MAVT (ETH).
Great flexibility will be given to the student to explore different control architectures (e.g. both model-based and model-free approaches can be considered), with the aim to finally compare the proposed solution with at least one controller from the literature in order to draw a meaningful comparison.
Candidates interested in pursuing a master project will be prioritized, but in exceptional cases also semester projects will be considered.
Airborne Wind Energy (AWE) systems harvest wind energy by exploiting the aerodynamic forces generated by autonomous tethered kites, flying fast in crosswind conditions. This technology is able to reach higher altitudes than conventional wind turbines, where the wind is generally stronger and more consistent, while at the same time reducing the construction and installation costs of the generator. There exists many different control approaches for AWE systems, some of which have been tested on a real world system setup. While many control approaches for AWE systems use a very simplified description of the system, the focus of this project will be on the investigation of control design strategies that make use of a richer description of the physical problem. This will be possible thanks to the availability of a high fidelity simulation environment developed by the CMAS lab at D-MAVT (ETH). Great flexibility will be given to the student to explore different control architectures (e.g. both model-based and model-free approaches can be considered), with the aim to finally compare the proposed solution with at least one controller from the literature in order to draw a meaningful comparison. Candidates interested in pursuing a master project will be prioritized, but in exceptional cases also semester projects will be considered.
The high level goal of this project is to design a controller which successfully operates an AWE system in a typical mission. This will be compared with one of the available controllers from the literature to show advantages of the newly proposed solution.
The high level tasks are:
1. literature review on modelling and control strategies for AWE systems;
2. Definition of a modelling/control strategy to leverage the information provided by the available high fidelity simulation to design a controller;
3. Implementation of the approach and simulation;
4. Critical comparison with other approaches and analysis of the benefits of the newly proposed solution.
This project can benefit from creativity, geometrical understanding and pragmatic thinking. A background in control is required.
The high level goal of this project is to design a controller which successfully operates an AWE system in a typical mission. This will be compared with one of the available controllers from the literature to show advantages of the newly proposed solution. The high level tasks are:
1. literature review on modelling and control strategies for AWE systems;
2. Definition of a modelling/control strategy to leverage the information provided by the available high fidelity simulation to design a controller;
3. Implementation of the approach and simulation;
4. Critical comparison with other approaches and analysis of the benefits of the newly proposed solution.
This project can benefit from creativity, geometrical understanding and pragmatic thinking. A background in control is required.
- Eva Ahbe, ahbee@control.ee.ethz.ch
- Dr. Andrea Iannelli, iannelli@control.ee.ethz.ch
- Eva Ahbe, ahbee@control.ee.ethz.ch - Dr. Andrea Iannelli, iannelli@control.ee.ethz.ch