Preventing Bats From Flying Into Turbulent Wind Turbine Wakes Using Quadcopters

As the popularity of wind energy continues to grow, the number of unforeseen issues have resulted from the rise in popularity - namely the sharp rise in the number of bat deaths in the vicinity of the wind turbines. Autopsies of the bats have shown that the bats have shown signs of barotrauma, suggesting that the pressure differential caused by the wind turbines is the cause of the deaths. The primary focus of this thesis is to demonstrate how quadcopters can be used to intercept the bats before the bats can reach the dangerous wake area. This is achieved by using a motion camouflage pursuit algorithm paired with a linear quadratic regulator that allows for the quadcopter to fly through the turbulent wake of the wind turbine and intercept the bat in a timely fashion. The paper analyzes the time taken for an intercept to occur and the ability for the quadcopter to intercept bats that have significantly different approach trajectories. Furthermore, a brief overview of how a quadcopter swam would intercept a colony of bats flying at different trajectories towards the wake area is also given and analyzed.