The use of flying robots (drones) is increasing rapidly, but their utility is limited by high power
demand, low specific energy storage and poor gust tolerance. By contrast, birds …

Thermal soaring saves much energy, but flying large distances in this form represents a
great challenge for birds, people and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The solution is to …

Soaring birds often rely on ascending thermal plumes (thermals) in the atmosphere as they
search for prey or migrate across large distances,,–. The landscape of convective currents is …

This thesis deals with airplanes using solar energy as their only source of energy for more
than 24 hours flight. Using solar panels, they collect it during the day for immediate use but …

Birds and gliders exploit warm, rising atmospheric currents (thermals) to reach heights
comparable to low-lying clouds with a reduced expenditure of energy. This strategy of flight …

FUTURE exploration of Mars, laid out by the Vision for Space Exploration [1], requires long-
endurance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that use resources that are plentiful on Mars …

Exploiting wind-energy is one possible way to extend the flight duration of an Unmanned
Aerial Vehicle. Wind-energy can also be used to minimise energy consumption for a …

Although unmanned air vehicles' increasing agility and autonomy may soon allow for flight
in urban environments, the impact of complex urban wind fields on vehicle flight …

This paper presents a novel wind estimation approach, which is compared with existing
ideas utilizing different combinations of common aircraft sensors to estimate the wind …

Large‐scale aerial sensing missions can greatly benefit from the perpetual endurance
capability provided by high‐performance low‐altitude solar‐powered unmanned aerial …