Model predictive control of rigid-airfoil Airborne Wind Energy systems

In order to allow for a reliable and lasting operation of Airborne Wind Energy systems, several problems need to be addressed. One of the most important challenges regards the control of the tethered airfoil during power generation. Tethered flight of rigid airfoils is a fast, strongly nonlinear, unstable and constrained process, and one promising way to address the control challenge is the use of Nonlinear Model Predictive Control (NMPC) together with online parameter and state estimation based on Moving Horizon Estimation (MHE). In this paper, these techniques are introduced and their performance demonstrated in simulations of a 30 m wingspan tethered airplane with power generation in pumping mode.