A guidance and control strategy for dynamic soaring with a gliding UAV

Soaring is the process of gaining energy from the atmosphere in-flight using an aerodynamic free-flying platform. Dynamic soaring utilizes the energy available in vertical wind gradients and is commonly used by soaring birds. This research aims to develop a guidance and control strategy to utilize dynamic soaring for a fixed-wing gliding UAV. The basic strategies for dynamic soaring in vertical wind shear are explored and a simple piecewise trajectory based controller is developed to identify regions suitable for soaring and attempt traveling energy-neutral trajectories.