auxiliary power

A wee ready made portable turbine

Maybe suspended and once the poles and ropes are removed it would make an adequate auxiliary power unit for a kite controller

1 Like

Nice. Another option is 3d printed blades with OpenSCAD bladegen, a brushless motor and a vesc. The benefit is smaller size, and that it may be dimensioned to your power needs. Maybe price also. Though a software must be written…

28 mph max rating for the Shine also is a bit on the slower side for onboard RAT

2 Likes

Wow that is some impressive and elegant product design. Those girls obviously hired the right people up there in Canada. (I hope they ever make their money back.) The shape of the nacelle and the way the blades fit against the sides, and easily detach and mount, represent some real focused creativity.
Still, I’m thinking 1.2 amp-hour onboard battery, with the ability to charge it up at home before you leave, might be its strongest point. That way if (just “if”) there is no wind in the woods, at least you have power. Funny to see someone bending over to mount a wind turbine on what may be the world’s lowest tower. Somehow the one video led me to a few more, then I looked on Youtube. So far I have not seen any feedback from a user beyond the first time they are seeing it. I did notice a bit of wobble when it is running. One thing I’ve noticed about products on Amazon etc. is you have to ignore those “reviews” by people who just received the product. Their reviews read like “Wow, 5 stars - fast shipping!” or “As soon as I opened the box, I knew I had a winner!”. What you need is someone telling you they used it for a few trips, or maybe for a whole season, like “We hiked the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada, and this kept everything charged for the whole summer!”
Better yet, a multi-season user who can tell you something about not only the robustness of the unit, but how useful it truly was. Still, from what I see, it is a better-than-average attempt at a small wind turbine.

1 Like

Wow. Coming from you that would be a 10/10 first impression?

1 Like

Yeah I could go along with that. But with the caveat: emphasis on “first impression”. I mean, it is a nice-looking design. Virtually all new wind energy ideas sound fantastic until you find out the bad news from actual users. (burned out, broke, fell off its mount, twisted the wires, etc.) The curved blades might break as they try to straighten, for example. Then one broken blade might cause the machine to explode from imbalance - who knows? And let’s see it in a 28 mph wind - that is a lot stronger than it sounds. Anything above 28 mph and you really start to see what can go wrong. If it weighs 3 lbs, and a lot of that is blades, frame, nacelle, and batteries, how much generator is in there? How thick is the shaft and what kind of punishment can it take? Is it built like a toy and a strong wind will break something? Bottom line is you really need more info as far as actual operation. Typically, small turbines are designed for, and demonstrated under, optimal “friendly” conditions. That usually means they are spinning but really not making a lot of power. The built-in battery is a sneaky way of being able to demonstrate it charging a phone, even under conditions where it would have trouble charging anything due to low wind speeds. Then when the wind hits 28 mph and the anchors pull out of the ground and it ends up in the next campsite with the blades broken, we find out “the rest of the story”. :slight_smile:

1 Like

This would seam ripe for a DeD process ( directed energy deposition).

Especially for the blades. which mean you could have super lightweight space reframe alloys with a high tensile strength. I was impressed to see such a compact design. I’d agree that a 7m/s wind threshold would make for limited use. However improvements are the name of the game. Super lightweight titanium alloys would improve its functionality. Which means it could operate in gale force winds. 60mph or above. Considering most single metal crystal blades from jet engines. can survive supersonic tip speeds it would be a massive improvement. It would see many a military contractor peek an eyelid. Especially for use with field operatives. I have to hand it to them the versatility on point. I had been wondering if anyone thinks it a good idea attaching this to a kite? Perhaps a series of them. Depending on if what they retail for? Kite train, ducted set up maybe? even at the centre of a daisy kite acting as an involute? Much like the old dragon kites.
image
Yep I like the shine turbine. I’ve taken a shine to it. Now to work out if I can afford one. Maybe do some tinkering for some giggles? I did mange to find them on YouTube but not much else to go on.

I believe the number of people who would need this, actually do this and pay for any of this is probably zero or maybe one person on the planet

It only needs a single curious mind and your in business. The point I was trying to make is one of longevity and ware resistance. I know awes is looking for a verity of solutions. And it it can withstand gale force winds with a high functionality. You would have a package deal. Who wants to spend ÂŁ1000 a quarter on energy bills? Nobody! so a concerted effort into personal production in line with lifestyle is a must.

Question here is can global production keep up? I reckon given half a shot it could get a million sales on the first outing. If it is build like a tank? Then promoted as the most rugged thing out there. Not only will you be saving the planet from further admissions. You will be saving a whole raft of industries. A blessing that should not be missed. As far as I understood awes mission. Is that not in your own interest? Sure there a practical side to everything. Where there’s a growing community? that needs cheep afford and sustainable power? where most grid networks can’t go? This would make for the most viable option. Especially if there a lifetime guarantee of upgrades, mods ect. Much like how vaping took off.

Oh, as the blades are often the weakest part of the design. So taking pieces of what is known, from the finest we have on offer can’t hurt. if it has a large operating zone? From say under 2m/s all the way up through gale force wind All the more and merrier! I’d suppose? It would be like the advent of cars or aircraft all over again. It also an opportunity for record braking feats of engineering. Which ever way you take? Would be worth some investigation to know all the, in and outs.