Optimal control of kite power systems: mesh-refinement strategies

In this work we address the problem of generating electricity through Kite Power Systems. We solve an optimal control problem which devises the trajectories and controls for the kite that maximize the total energy produced in a given interval. This is a highly nonlinear problem for which the optimization is challenging. We use a continuous-time model of the kite and implement time mesh-refinement strategies to solve the problem. We report results that show that with an adaptive mesh refinement strategy the problem can be solved with a high level of accuracy and (in simplified versions) much faster.