The UFACET systems seeks to fly a UAV drone along a trajectory that systematically scans a heliostat field. Flight approach angles and paths are chosen to view each assessed heliostat through a range of positions so that heliostats in front of the heliostat are seen in reflection sweeping from the top to the bottom of the assessed heliostat. Given a heliostat field description, calendar date and time of year, the UFACET Flight Planner computes this trajectory and outputs a flight-ready flight plan.
Nearly complete, rough. Has been used to compute hundreds of successful flight plans. Poor interface.
Documentation
R. Brost, D. Small, D. Novick, and B. Bean. High-Speed UAV Assessment of Heliostat Fields. Presented at Near Earth Autonomy, April 1, 2024.
R. C. Brost, D. E. Small, D. Novick, and B. Bean. High-Speed Assessment of Heliostat Fields without Disrupting Operations. ES 2023 17th International Conference on Energy Sustainability, Washington, DC, July 2023.
R. C. Brost, P. A. Apostolopoulos, D. E. Small, D. K. Novick, N. R. Jackson, Micah S. Mann, and Eirini Eleni Tsiropoulou. High-Speed In-Situ Optical Scanning of Heliostat Fields. SolarPACES 2021.
