ArduSoar: An Open-Source Thermalling Controller for Resource-Constrained Autopilots

Samuel Tabor; Iain Guilliard; Andrey Kolobov

IROS 2018poster23 citations

ArduSoar: An Open-Source Thermalling Controller for Resource-Constrained Autopilots

Samuel Tabor, Iain Guilliard, Andrey Kolobov

Abstract

Autonomous soaring capability has the potential to significantly increase time aloft for fixed-wing UAVs. In this paper, we introduce ArduSoar, the first soaring controller integrated into a major autopilot software suite for small UAVs. We describe ArduSoar from the algorithmic standpoint, outline its integration with the ArduPlane autopilot, discuss parameter tuning for it, and conduct a series of flight tests on real sUAVs that show ArduSoar's robustness even in highly nonideal atmospheric conditions.

BibTeX

@inproceedings{iros2018_ardusoaranopenso,
  title = {ArduSoar: An Open-Source Thermalling Controller for Resource-Constrained Autopilots},
  author = {Samuel Tabor and Iain Guilliard and Andrey Kolobov},
  booktitle = {IROS 2018},
  year = {2018}
}