Tethered Glider P14462 Project Review Saj Subhani Kyle Ball Jon Erbelding Matt Douglas Paul Grossi Bill Charlock

Background Current wind energy is harvested primarily using wind turbines; however, these wind turbines are very limited. They require large bases to support large blades, which limits the heights that they can achieve. A better solution to harvest wind energy lies in high altitude kites. High altitude kites are capable of reaching the faster, more consistent winds in the upper atmosphere.

Project Goals Glider Tether Base Station Design and construct a base station to measure and record the position and tether tension of a tethered glider Fly glider unpowered using human controlled input Fly glider in a circular flight path for 3+ minutes, while maintaining tether tension Operator w/ controller

Final Design - Glider RC Plane 1 Aerobird 3 Bixlers 3 Point Bridle Offset from center Dyneema Tether 55 meters 1000 lbs breaking tension On Site Repairs Foam Glue Duct Tape

Glider Damages Major Damages Severe nose damage Wings ripped out Fuselage snapped Tail broke off Control surfaces ripped off Lost motor control Motor support broke in half

Final Design - Base Station Two potentiometers that measure horizontal and vertical sweep angles Single load cell that the tether attaches to, which measures tether tension Sensors wired into NI DAQ device which worked in conjunction with LabView to record and process signals

Experiments https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts49ZSaNA48&feature=youtu.be

Results All flights were powered Glider lost altitude over time For 1 loop Taut Tether Tension was 23.22 lbs During Loop Varied from 0.23 lbs to 5.78 lbs Tether tension expected to increase with more loops Max glider speed of 45 mph

Engineering Req. Checklist

Future Iterations Glider lost altitude over time Believed to be caused by our bridle setup Design a plane for a 2 point bridle system Aileron Control while in flight path More robust plane Too difficult for human control Automation would be required

Questions?