5. Conclusion

Elements for understanding the particularities of autonomous sailing robots were presented. The many possible applications and few equivalent alternatives, as well as existing prototypes and experiments already carried out, clearly demonstrate the industrial interest in this type of robot. To aid design and simulation, kinematic and dynamic modeling elements were detailed. Finally, control methods for implementing automatic trajectory-following algorithms have been proposed. However, many points remain open.

• The very architecture of sailing robots is still often strongly inspired by traditional sailing boats. However, small-scale sailing robots are subject to far greater disturbances (waves and wind) than "full-scale" sailboats. It is, for example, probably possible to optimize sail profile by explicitly taking these factors into account....