Kitemill released a video showing the use of “the gimbal”. This device allows testing of VTOL flight algorithms on ground and testing the hardware in realistic but risk-free surroundings.
I believe such a device is crucial to develop VTOL systems at this scale.
The device in the video is the second generation of the design that allows the kite to be placed in the gimbal without disassembling any part of it. The cradle design allow for really fast placment of the kite in the gimbal.
I was part of the team designing this, I haven’t seen similar devices before, so, … here it is…
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Why is it important?
- Iron out VTOL flight bugs before going to altitude.
- Get the dynamics of pitch (in particular), roll and yaw control loops optimized before flight.
- Get control allocation in place (figuring out which actuator[s] to use)
- Test the hardware for nonlinearities, slack, vibrations etc
The real thing is nothing like your model unless the model is really deep. Still the gimbal would be necessary to arrive at the accurate model
Limitations?
- It does not allow the kite to fly in wind/relative airspeed
- Up/down altitude control is not possible
- Ground effect when the kite is close to the floor, or other air circulation effects when inside the workshop
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