Modeling and Natural Mode Analysis of Tethered Multi-Aircraft Systems. Three-Dimensional Unsteady Aerodynamic Analysis of a Rigid-Framed Delta Kite Applied to Airborne Wind Energy.Flight trajectory optimization of Fly-Gen airborne wind energy systems through a harmonic balance method.į.Borobia-Moreno, et al., Wind Energy (2023), Automatic testbed with a visual motion tracking system for airborne wind energy applications.The most sophisticated and precise instrument in the infrastructure is a multi-hole pitot tube from Aeroprobe Corporation that provides the magnitude of the aerodynamic velocity, the angle of attack and the sideslip angle. Currently, UC3M can perform flight testing to get real data of the kite position, velocity, Euler angles, angular velocity, acceleration, aerodynamic velocity vector, tether tensions, and state of the control bar. The team developed an infrastructure for performing flight testing activities with two different leading-edge inflatable kites (Cabrinha Switchblade 10 m2 and Cabrinha Contra 13 m2), two NASA-type kites (5m2 and 10m2) and an acrobatic kite (Fazer XXL, 3.6m wingspan). Such estimation can be used to find an appropriate aerodynamic model of the kites by using estimation before modelling techniques. The main goal is getting real flight data to feed an already prepared Extended Kalman Filter that provides an estimation of the full state vector of the kites, including the aerodynamic force and torque. UC3M has experience on flight testing activities of power and acrobatic kites. As a consequence, the code is prepared for analyzing a great variety of AWE machines, including the ones developed by companies such as Makani, Kitepower, Ampyxpower, TwingTec and Enerkite among others. Its control vector in the most sophisticated configuration involves the length of the main tether for making reel-in and reel-out, the lengths of the lines of the bridle and the deflections of ailerons, rudder and elevator for steering the aircraft, and the torque of the motor controllers of the rotors. It considers the self-consistent dynamics of the aircraft (a rigid body), the on-board rotors, and a flexible tether. LAKSA’s module named KiteFlex can be used to study ground-generation and fly-generation systems. As a consequece, the code is robust and efficient. This feature, and the inelastic but flexible character of the tethers of the models, yield a non-stiff system of ordinary differential equations that is not coupled with algebraic constraints. The equations of motion of four of them were found by using a Lagrangian formulation with a minimal coordinate approach. The software has 5 modules aimed at different machine architectures. UC3M has developed LAKSA, an open source simulation package to study the dynamics and control of AWE systems (Download). The topics include the modelling, simulation and control of AWE systems, as well as the aerodynamic and aeroelastic characterization through numerical and experimental analysis. In parallel, many Bachelor and Master Aerospace students developed their minor theses in our group, one PhD thesis was defended in 2021 and two other are in progress. Recently, project GreenKite-2 by the Spanish Government has been granted as a continuation of the latter project lasting from 2020 to 2023. From 2016 to 2019, the team performed research and development activities thanks to GreenKite, a project supported by the Spanish Government. These systems generate electricity by using the tether tension to move a generator on the ground (ground-generation) or using on-board wind turbines (fly-generation).Īlthough some activities on kite dynamics and control were carried out from 2004 to 2006, UC3M activities on AWE systems formally started in 2015 thanks to a Leonardo Grant funded by BBVA Foundation. Airborne wind energy (AWE) systems are technologies that convert wind energy into electrical energy and are made of one or more aerial autonomous vehicles linked to the ground by at least one tether. In addition, the substitution of wind turbines by lightweight structures placed at a high altitude, such as kites, would reduce the costs and the visual impact. Although an extensive wind exploitation and a remarkable growth happened thanks to conventional technologies, important benefits can be obtained by making the systems operate at high altitudes, where winds are stronger and less intermittent. Most of wind energy systems, like wind turbines, extract power at low altitudes.
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