Increasing endurance is a major challenge for battery-powered aerial vehicles. A method is presented which makes use of an updraft around obstacles to decrease the power consumption of a fixed-wing, unmanned aerial vehicle. Simulatory results have shown the conditions that the flight controller can fly in.
The effect of a change in wind velocity, wind direction and updraft has been analysed. The simulations showed that an increase in either updraft or absolute wind direction decrease the throttle consumption.
A change in wind velocity results in a shift of the flight controller’s boundaries. The simulations achieved sustained flight at 0 per cent throttle. The practical, autonomous tests reduced the average throttle down to 4.5 per cent in front of the boat. The unfavourable wind conditions and inaccuracies explain this minor
throttle requirement during the final experiment.

The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) market is growing, as the field of application becomes increasingly diverse. Various missions performed by UAVs such as transport, surveillance and monitoring missions can be less challenging and more efficient compared to missions carried out by manned aircraft. The new design principle of combining a helicopter and a conventional aircraft has been proven to be prominent, as it allows a UAV to be versatile and have capability of being retrofitted to different mission profiles; these Hybrid UAVs are able to operate at broader conditions, as they can take-off and land without a runway and have a horizontal flight performance of a conventional aircraft.