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A project log for Kite Propulsion

Harnessing the wind with robot controlled kites

ekEK 04/23/2022 at 13:230 Comments

Wind is abundant, and there should be more ways of harnessing this power. The last-mile journey for deploying wind turbines can be dangerous and challenging:

Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/watch-how-wind-turbine-blades-transported-mountains-china-cimc-vehicles-trucks-2017-3

Kites can be dual-use: for generation and propulsion. Generation would use a stationary device to spin a wheel. Propulsion would have the device mounted on a movable platform.

An example for propulsion are Theo Jansen’s Strandbeest sculptures:

Source: https://www.stirworld.com/inspire-people-theo-jansen-on-his-passion-for-developing-strandbeests-into-ever-evolving-creatures

An example for generation are Makani’s energy kites:

Source: https://blog.x.company/sharing-makani-with-the-world-the-energy-kite-collection-ea49398df78c

The impact of this method needs to be seen from the overall picture. Impact will be evaluated in the following ways:

  1. Energy generated
  2. Materials used
  3. Transportation
  4. Efficiency of speed/distance traveled

To start, a single line kite will be used. The kite was chosen for its uniformity in colour, which aids the computer vision program.

The next steps are to design prototypes that will measure and test the system. The progress will be shared here on hackaday.io!

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