Another good distinguishing feature is working tether shape.
Reciprocating flat 8
Single cone
Multi truncated cone
Linear
Why not use the terms already available, and avoid terms leading to confusion with established wind energy terms?
So we would still have the two big families:
-
reeling (= yo-yo = pumping mode: crosswind, aligned, flexible, rigidâŠ);
-
steady-state (fly-gen, rotary, carousel: crosswind, mounted turbine, flexible, rigidâŠ).
It will be time to align the AWE terminology with that of established wind energy when AWES produce significant energy.
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Maybe learn from the animal kingdom:
- bounding AWE
- hovering AWE
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There is ALWAYS some company promoting some ânewâ downwind, 2-bladed wind turbine. Usually it is just renderings, though sometimes they actually get one built.That never changes.
The latest one I saw featured active yaw control.
That lets it turn sideways, and park the blades horizontally, to survive storms.
But usually they rely on passive downwind rotor orientation.
They never catch on, usually never get built, and if built, they usually explode or have a tower-strike at some point.
They often cite offshore applications, and the ability to have a larger rotor than whatever is common at the time of promotion.
Stated advantages are faster rotation, less material used, longer blades, and avoidance of tower-strikes. hmmmâŠ
For now Iâd be happy with getting long-established terminology to match what is long-established:
âlift machineâ vs âdrag machineâ
âupwindâ vs âdownwindâ
I also think âyo-yoâ is âcuteâ but not accurate.
More like a fishing pole reel than a yo-yo.
None of the AWE reeling devices Iâve seen really acts like a yo-yo.
As Iâve joked in the past, it might refer to the promoters more than the device. 
The thinking is to split into the four variants of «bounding»/«hovering» and «lift»/«drag». Then split further into the most common archetypes, if further classification makes sense.
Bounding: changing between production (downwind motion) and return phase (upwind motion)
Hovering: Plant is more or less stationary, any movement back an forth relative to wind is not related to power harvesting directly
Lift: Blades are producing more lift than drag
Drag: Blades are producing less lift than drag
â
I know bounding/hovering seems odd and new to everyone, but if you look at their meaning in bird flight it immediately makes sense, and the terms are not currently loaded with meaning.
Any classification is quite arbitrary anyways.
After all my chat⊠Plenty of downwind turbines work reliability round here⊠See local company https://nordri.co.uk/services#renewables
I like the idea of borrowing from natural taxonomy
Maybe the first level defining classifier for an AWES design should be
Dead or Alive
How about âwastingâ? As in the machine wastes half of the energy on the generation phase, then not only wastes ALL of the energy on the return phase, but actually wastes even more of the energy previously generated! A wind energy device that uses energy - wow. You can tell there are no real wind people in AWE.
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All AWES waste energy, if only to stay in the air.
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Those look like SD turbines. A resurrection of a failed design from a bankrupt company - trying to remember their name⊠Wait, just remembered the name: âProvenâ. I guess at first it was proven to work, but then later, proven to fail⊠The original company Proven was from Scotland if memory serves. I know a lady around here who had one. I think it broke down. I was originally very impressed with the design. They had an interesting method of overspeed protection, but I think that turned out to be the Achilles heel. From what I remember, I think they all break down eventually. I think that was why the company went bankrupt. I used to think that was a compelling design, until they started failing on everyone. People from outside wind energy will just fall for anything. Just because a website that says their stuff is great doesnât mean it is true. Then again my SuperTwins and my Firefly are either upwind/downwind or dual-rotor downwind, and they stay running for years. I did, however, have to deal with tower wake effects that can be real dealbreakers. I found ways to address the issue but I found out the hard way, the tower wake is for real. Thatâs why Skystream has curved (scimitar) blades - so they don;t all hit the wake at once. But the Skystream had balance issues as well, and many other issues, and the company, Southwest Windpower, went bankrupt. I know one of the founders. Still, in general, downwind machines tend to not last. Too many problems to go into right now, but you donât see very many operating, and if you do, stay tuned cuz it will probably be not running before long.
I was surprised this hadnât been mentioned here, so, better late than never
The (a?) source was indicated by @rschmehl on https://forum.awesystems.info/t/introduction-to-awes/1129/8: