A new company in a new field needing considerable R&D, (such as AWES),
has a dependency on financial support before profit can be realised.
It is often the case for research funding that a charity or not for profit or community interest company will be able to find funding more easily. The UK has tax incentives and community funding schemes to steer this dynamic.
Is anyone interested in establishing an R&D charitable foundation? Can this be used to push the work of existing companies?
There’s huge competition for funding.
I’ve considered incorporating AWESystems.info as a UK nonprofit company and asking for donations to make it more useful. This would be far less effort than what you describe, but I’ve shied away from the effort.
I consider this for years, but never found the time to do it.
I challenge that. It mostly needs technical skill, then experience/skill in building a business, then time, then a little money to build and test some prototypes.
That is for the single inventor who doesn’t employ anyone and has an independent source of income. So what they need most of all is a network of people with expertise in building start ups and people with relevant technical skill, and perhaps some money to buy some of their time.
Those companies that already employ people presumably are resourceful enough to find additional funding, and would need so much of it that we wouldn’t be able to help.
So in this order you start a business before building a prototype. Where does the business turn a profit from before realising the prototype?
In my case, I’ve left some old jobs for ethical and family priorities, and selling early test kites and parts only gets so far. To realise the kind of really marketable AWES I have in mind will take resources which I struggle to access.
The purpose of my initial statement is not to promote my own business (yet this would be a likely outcome) but to establish an impartial charitable foundation, structured to access r&d funding to investigate AWES.
In this order you first look at what the market wants and how you possibly could profitably provide that. You can then let that knowledge inform your product development, or the decision to even begin developing the product or not.
You also need that knowledge, or those educated guesses, to interest very early angel investors or, in this case, to write grant proposals to research foundations.
There was no decision for me. This work needed doing. Do it.
My first thought on discovering the enormity of the project was to release huge concepts openly as a framework for future development.
You wouldn’t patent “car” or “house” but door handle for either is cool.
I think my initial openness will have slowed initial progress but should serve AWES well going forward. (especially once the patentable landscape is described.)
We need to share our research. That’s the main benefit of a forum. Together we can work smarter.
However to that end. Maybe we need to discuss the obvious missing topic.
The EU funded AWESCO project has now ended
http://www.awesco.eu/news/48-final-report-for-awesco-project-submitted.html
What’s going to replace it?
Was it as systematic as the remit asked?
We can all agree, a huge amount of effort is still needed.
AWESCO wasn’t a charitable research company.
At the WESC 2019 a Technical Committee for AWES within the EAWE has been established. It is intended to be theacademic counterpart of AWEurope, the industry association.
Maybe @rschmehl could provide a bit of an outlook.
This is another subject. You were talking about a company in a new field doing R&D. A company needs to eventually generate profits to survive, so it has to look at what customers will buy.
Regardless, the goals of a company and those of an inventor are similar, build a thing that people want. So you can and should also go through the same exercise (of looking at what customers might want and what you might give them). Gather the skills and tools to build a prototype that works, test, improve, repeat. Show a later iteration to someone to get funding to do more work, if you need to. I wouldn’t know why you’d need to.
I think it will have quickened it. By sharing your thoughts and getting feedback you learn quicker than trying to do everything yourself.
You’re right a company is to make profit…
I am definitely trying to make something people will buy,
Whether it’s my designs, my prototypes, or a product range, or even my company etc…
I’ve been working toward the centre of a topic which is getting hotter and hotter.
I hope to benefit from this work before it’s too late.
As for a research foundation…
I still think we are lacking thorough reporting analysis of the scope of AWES (e.g. Fraunhofer report https://www.tib.eu/de/suchen/id/TIBKAT%3A812875079/Projekt-OnKites-Untersuchung-zu-den-Potentialen/ ) is incomplete but could be read as gospel.
My usual grudge, AWESCO and AWESEurope reporting missed torque transfer from autogyro, when,
Even those spam, mashed up, market reports noticed it exists. Update-Global 2014-2025 Airborne Wind Turbines Market Outlook-by Players Regions Type Application Revenue and Market Share .pdf (752.5 KB)
In lieu of an independent research body… This forum is probably your best bet right now.
A post was merged into an existing topic: AirborneWindEnergy: For More Power From On High (Luke1:3KJV)