Voice of the CustomerR15901: AIRBORNE WIND ENERGY PLANE

Background•Airborne wind energy planes are designed to simulate the tip of the conventional wind turbine blade

•Operate at higher altitudes than conventional wind turbines

•Multiple methods to harness the energy• Tether reel system• Turbines on-board the plane conducted through tether

Figure 1: Diagram showing swept areas of a conventional horizontal axis wind turbine(HAWT) and an tethered airfoil system.

Current State of the Art in Industry

Makani◦ Uses on-board turbines with electrified tether

◦ Most recent model generates 600 kW of power

◦ Fully autonomous vertical circular flight path◦ Flies at an altitude of 140 m -310 m

Ampyx◦ Uses reel system to generate electricity

◦ Fully autonomous infinity-shaped flight path◦ Flies at an altitude of 300 m – 600 m

http://plates55.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/mak_slide1_x900.jpg http://http://www.ampyxpower.com/OurTechnology.html

Current State of the Art in MSD P14462

◦ Designed a Base Station◦ Provided tether connection point◦ Collected tether tension and position data of the plane

◦ Used a bought plane◦ 3-point bridle system◦ Achieved 3-5 continuous vertical circles

P15462◦ Designed a plane

◦ Designed to perform continuous vertical circles◦ Using a 1-point bridle system

◦ Implementing previous Base Station for DAQ◦ Currently manufacturing and assembling plane

Objectives for Continuation Goals:

◦ Design an airborne wind energy system that implements a continuous horizontal circular flight path.◦ Implement a tether control system to perform reeling of the tether in flight.◦ Collect position, orientation, and tether tension as a function of time of the plane in flight.

Stakeholders◦ Dr. Gomes◦ Professor Hanzlik◦ P15462◦ MSD Office

Objective Tree

Four projects from Objective Tree:◦ Base Station design◦ Adapting a plane design for new flight path

◦ Tether Tension Control System◦ On-board Instrumentation and hardware

Project Schedule ProposalFuture Project Schedule Proposal

Project Fall 2015 Spring 2015 Fall 2016 Spring 2016 Fall 2017

Base Station Design MSD 1 MSD 2

Adapting Plane Design MSD 1 MSD 2

Tether Tension Control System MSD 1 MSD 2

On-Board Instrumentation and Hardware MSD 1 MSD 2

Base Station Project CR’sCustomer Requirement Relative Weight

Base Station with Tether Connection29%

Allow for full rotation of the tether24%

Achieve continuous horizontal circular flight path19%

Reel system to change tether length

14%

Bridle system to attach to plane and maintain constant bank angle

10%

Use a provided bought plane or P15462's plane

5%

Record videos of all flights0%

Next Steps◦ Meet with Professor Hanzlik and Dr. Gomes to discuss Project Schedule Proposal◦ Meet with P15462 to discuss expectations◦ Meet with MSD Office to discuss budgeting◦ Develop Functional Decomposition◦ Develop Engineering Requirements◦ Develop House of Quality

Questions?