Airborne Wind Turbine

The Airborne Wind Turbine (AWT) is a wind turbine hoisted into the air to harness the speed and consistency of higher altitude winds. Allowing rapidly deployable steady energy production for disaster relief to national defense operations.

Initial Prototype

  • Savonius type vertical axis wind turbine

  • Setup time of only one hour

  • Utilized two 300 watt generators

  • Flown at 1,000 feet

  • Operated in wind speeds in excess of 20 miles per hour

  • Requires only a single earth anchor

Improved Prototype

  • Transitioned to Darrieus type vertical axis wind turbine

  • Reduced weight by 65%

  • Increased turbine efficiency by 15%

  • Field testing and FEA used to certify lighter air frame

  • Utilization of small Darrieus turbines to self start

Fiberoptic Resin Cure Sensor

Due to varying thickness of fiberglass wind turbine blades, the rate of cute across its length will vary leading to stress concentrations. By using a fiber optic cable with a resin wave guide embedded across the blade the cure of epoxy can be detected through loss light intensity and change in index of refraction

  • Spliced and cleaved fiber optics less than 1mm in diameter

  • Utilized nylon and glass fibers

  • Conducted 30+ trials of sensors I made

  • Experimented with wide range of different epoxy mixtures and heating profiles

  • Research conducted in conjunction with TPI composites

Fiberoptic cable with added resin waveguide

Test Setup

Data sample depicting cure over time

Micro Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

Archimedes Screw Wind Turbine

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