Not sure if this is the correct section to post these
2 good thesis reports on using ardupilot systems for AWES
They are intended as test models prior to yo-yo implementation
They use wee reinforced foam planes for these tests
and
1 Like
Another flight controller project
This time using teensy (600 MHz) controller and 6050 IMU
Sounds a lot simpler to interface
Has no gps nor autonomy support unlike ardupilot … but that may not be necessary nor too hard to plug in or just command from the ground.
1 Like
It might be obvious to you guys, but what’s the point of a steerable pilot kite?
Doesn’t a pilot kite always want to stay downwind? Is this not accurate enough? Do you want to move sideways?
Do you want to control the line angle with respect to the ground plane?
Initially i through you guys wanted a rover on the ground with a line up to the pilot. And that would steer it?
2 Likes
- using more efficient kites
- landing easily
- controlling the line tension
- controlling the placement of the kite
I believe the first point is more important for me. To use more efficient kites that are not inherently stable.
2 Likes
Found a nice looking Paramotor project today
Certainly looks a more efficient high AR foil than a KAP lifter … However
In a turbulent wind field (Like high winds close to ground) Even a KAP lifting foil can be very unsteady.
So a bit of active steering / damping the violent sway you get from lumpy turbulent wind will help
Flying high is a great option if it’s cleared by authorities but we are still left with the need for control in Launch and Land.
I’ve tried some lift stacking experiments… Not very successfully - with the tension from the top most kite crushing the inflation & stopping the steering of the lower lifter. There must be better ways there.
1 Like
OK there are examples where rigidity of course helps stacking… cody stacks, kite trains…
Found another company looking into kite stacking with drone control.
And they seem to also be interested in AWES
http://www.go3d.ch/KSD/
KiteStackDrones
OK the rendering on the line tension is all wrong, but having the cut out + rigidity in the frame + an onboard AoA adjustment cool. But the site date is 2018
Anyone know who it is?
I’ve been at a landing zone where a paraglider landing in mid-day summer thermic turbulence (think dust-devils) suffered a canopy-collapse near the ground - to low to recover. We hear a bang you could feel through your feet, and next you know a fire-truck with paramedics is driving in to pick up the pieces. There was at least one broken bone - the guy lived but it wasn’t a nice day for him. This sort of mid-day canopy collapse is very common - perhaps the main danger paragliders face. Lots of PG pilots I know have received severe injuries. Like a game of Russian Roulette. We also lost a hang glider pilot a couple years ago to mid-day turbulence. His flight lasted about 4 seconds before he was turned around and slammed into a tree. Normal procedure for cautious pilots is to wait til after the 4:00 PM “glass-off” to stay safe(r), while the more daring pilots seek risky midday unstable air to find thermals that can quickly take them up to 16,000 feet or more. No guts, no glory. The guys setting records get beaten up by sometimes unbelievable turbulence, sometimes even getting flipped upside-down, sometimes having to throw their reserve chute.
I’ve stripped the Drehm flight controller right down, ported it to ESP32 and used it to send MPU9250 IMU data packets over UDP on wifi for speey field control data based on the rotor attitude.
Cool thing is I can get it to display moving squiggles as I spin the gadget around
(Basically I’m spinning a handbag in a room and getting the computer to be my friend and join in the dance… Oh what has lockdown done?)
IMU data through udp with curve.gh (13.6 KB)
Unfortunate thing is the UDP listener firefly on grasshopper is a bit slow to pass the packets through… tried to display the data in python… but no luck so far… all suggestions welcome
Bunch of py files like this
pythonROTORdataweeUDP listen.py (205 Bytes)
Bit of interaction on the project here too
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?3706571-dRehmFlight-VTOL-Teensy-Flight-Controller-and-Stabilization/page20
Perhaps use a built in command like socat for performance?
In general I would not expect even your python code to have much trouble with even quite large throughput. The bottleneck could be somewhere else, like the time it takes to print text to screen. Perhapd rather dump it to a file, and only print every 100 packets?
1 Like
Actually the beaglebone blue would have both the same IMU and a built in logging application, along with wifi and a LiPo connector onboard ;-D
No programming reqd. Still getting it running would not be entirely straightforward.
1 Like
Priority for this gizmo is getting the data on the ground ASAP
I’ll be using it as condition monitoring / smoothing generation …
I Got the python side running my data here.
It was an IP config problem. Not the 127.0.0.1 but I had duffed up another one.
Plenty of data coming in now by the look of the stream
I’ve cut the packet size down too…
however looks like the computer has a serious problem with lagging behind the UDP stream…
I may need to go to TCP instead to get some quality and time control.
Would a pair of mini spin bols be able to supply enough power to turn a gear motor for generating power to hold a static lift kite stable?
https://m.facebook.com/groups/492515814557853/permalink/1186134898529271/?sfnsn=scwspmo&ref=share