DARPA’s Strategic Technology Office is seeking innovative approaches to address challenges in integrated planning, sensing and control for autonomous soaring to extend range and endurance of small uncrewed aerial systems.
Albatross seeks to develop effective autonomous soaring capabilities as evaluated via real-world-flight testing. In particular, Albatross seeks to develop weather forecast-informed mission planning and real-time onboard sensing of dynamic wind conditions across multiple environments to harness energy from winds to offset the total power of the system required for flight.
Albatross is NOT a dedicated airframe or aircraft design effort. The program is not focused on lowering the drag of the airframe or providing the highest energy density source. Rather, the focus is on developing and integrating planning tools, additional aircraft sensors, and unique control solutions applied to existing or otherwise quickly assembled small, uncrewed aircraft to autonomously plan for, identify, and respond to soaring conditions. Success is defined as capitalizing on soaring conditions to extend range and endurance in an operationally relevant manner.
Albatross projects will run for 24 months.
Abstracts are due 15 November 2024. Selected abstracts will be invited to present an oral proposal, expected to occur 5 December 2024.
Document
Program Solicitation – Albatross: DARPA-PS-24-13
