The Autonomous Systems Lab of EPFL 3 is developing, within the framework of an ESA program, an ultra-lightweight solar autonomous model airplane called Sky-Sailor with embedded navigation and control systems. The main goal of this project is to jointly undertake research on navigation, control of the plane and also work on the design of the structure, the energy generation system. The airplane will be capable of continuous flight over days and nights, which makes it suitable for a wide range of applications.
This Chapter presents a historical review of solar aircrafts built and flown to date, followed by a design methodology for a solar unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The proposed methodology is applied to the prototype Sky-Sailor UAV. The UAV dynamic model, the navigation and control system are discussed along with potential applications.
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