Rod Read Director
Windswept and Interesting Ltd 15a Aiginish Isle of Lewis United Kingdom rod.read@windswept-and-interesting.co.uk windswept-and-interesting.co.uk kitepowercoop.org
Opportunities and Progress in Open AWE Hardware
Rod Read Windswept and Interesting Ltd Open hardware AWE, is AWE done right. Try our
de-signs and find out why. We have evolved scalable sys-tems within regulatory, economic, safety and material ef-ficiency perspectives. Started by “hobbyist” engineers on shoestring budgets, Open AWE is now, open for business. We provide valuable international cooperation on re-search, manufacturing and operating standards [1]. Open hardware products by Dan Tracey and Kpower have suc-cessfully marketed using traditional manufacturing part-nerships and open market funding. Further products with the highest TRL in AWE are on the factory floor. Our open designs are based on commercial off the-shelf (COTS) standards.
New methods, designs and test results are still published daily [2]. Designs scale from personal communication de-vices to viable gigawatt AWE. Testing has shown that our rope loadpath network structures are scalable and con-trollable. Our fast load transfer methods are the most efficient AWE forms. Open design products have a reli-able test history. They are more reasoned and applicreli-able to manufacture. Increasing collaboration with traditional markets, manufacture and academia is set to continue. The cooperative group has amassed a wide IP pool. Open AWE has no blocking IP. Key concepts in the open AWE IP pool include: soft material scalability, aggregate passive lift stability [3], tensioned transfer efficiency [4], using Earth as a control bar for Mothra arch yaw stability, iso-metric dome lifting structures, isoiso-metric mesh lift fields, individual and grouped kixel steering functions address-able from single locations, phased output from looping parafoils, continuous driving ring foils, torque transfer
over tensioned lift lines by ring and ladder, embedded structural intelligence [5].
Our evolved parametric design standards give system developers and manufacturers instant answers to cus-tom demands. Our open feedback forums are the fer-tile ground next generation AWE needs. Developers work-ing with open AWE avoid havwork-ing to learn exactwork-ing design skills. Standardised construction rules and guidelines im-prove FAA compliance and insurability. You can expect more from Open AWE.
References:
[1] http://www.energykitesystems.net/CoopIP/TetheredAviationCon Ops.html Accessed 1 June 2015
[2] http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/AirborneWindEnergy/info Accessed 1 June 2015
[3] http://windswept-and-interesting.co.uk/?p=430 Accessed 1 June 2015
[4] Goldstein L.: Airborne Wind Energy Conversion Systems with Ul-tra High Speed Mechanical Power Transfer. In: Airborne Wind En-ergy. Springer (2013)
[5] http://newyork.aaschool.ac.uk/ Accessed 1 June 2015
