Optimal control of underwater kite power systems

Abstract

We address the problem of generating electricity through Underwater Kite Power Systems. For this problem, we develop an optimal control problem formulation using a continuous-time model of the kite to devise the trajectories and controls for the kite that maximize the total energy produced in a given time interval. This is an highly nonlinear problem for which the optimization is challenging. We also develop a numerical solution scheme for the optimal control problem based on direct methods and on adaptive time-mesh refinement. We report results that show that the problem can be quickly solved with a high level of accuracy when using our adaptive mesh refinement strategy. The results confirm the values of electrical power that can be produced with such device.