Potential of morphing was investigated for a UAV flying in a spatially and temporally changing windfleld. Trajectory optimization was performed for a 5 meter span UAV with morphing capability as well as without it. Results show that energy extraction from inhomogeneity in spanwise direction is of little practical relevance, but morphing can be effectively used for drag reduction while performing gust soaring. Additional optimization was done for a 15 meter span UAV flying in an artificial static windfield to demonstrate that actual energy extraction is theoretically possible. Results for the latter case show, that the spacial distribution of the windfleld can have profound effect on the amount of extracted energy.
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