After having programmed the controller for almost a week, it was finally time to test WinDIY again.

To do this, I set up the wind turbine on a small hill nearby.

First the bad news:

Since the test on my generator test stand, I was a bit skeptical whether the generator was suitable for WinDIY. At approx. 20 revolutions per second (!) The generator generated approx. 25W. First of all, the performance is really low and, secondly, the required speed is much too high.

I think the nerdiskerator was a cool project to learn about the difficulties of a 3D printed generator. With this experience I will now start to develop a better generator!

The good news:

The brake and the pitch actuator work. You can see very well how the wind turbine stops or slows down when the blades are in the sail position and starts up again when the sail position is ended.

The brake also works better than expected. In between I was a little worried whether the 3D printed structures could withstand the brake pressure. But after numerous tests on the test stand and now with WinDIY, I am surprised how well it works.

Overall, I am happy with the results. Nevertheless, I already have a couple of ideas to make the whole thing better: Both the setting speed of the pitch actuator and that of the brake actuator could be faster. I'll take care of that for the next design upgrade.  😊

This video shows that the brake actuator blocked the rotation (at full power pitch setting):

Another video of the brake actuator blocking the turbine:

Random videos of it running:

And some pictures of the buidl. :)