1. Tethered Glider P14462 Project Review
Saj Subhani
Kyle Ball
Jon Erbelding
Matt Douglas
Paul Grossi
Bill Charlock

2. Background
Current wind energy is harvested primarily using wind turbines; however, these wind turbines are very limited. They require large bases to support large blades, which limits the heights that they can achieve.
A better solution to harvest wind energy lies in high altitude kites. High altitude kites are capable of reaching the faster, more consistent winds in the upper atmosphere.

3. Project Goals
Glider
Tether
Base
Station
Design and construct a base station to measure and record the position and tether tension of a tethered glider
Fly glider unpowered using human controlled input
Fly glider in a circular flight path for 3+ minutes, while maintaining tether tension
Operator w/
controller

4. Final Design - Glider RC Plane 1 Aerobird 3 Bixlers 3 Point Bridle
Offset from center
Dyneema Tether
55 meters
1000 lbs breaking tension
On Site Repairs
Foam Glue
Duct Tape

5. Glider Damages Major Damages Severe nose damage Wings ripped out
Fuselage snapped
Tail broke off
Control surfaces ripped off
Lost motor control
Motor support broke in half

6. Final Design - Base Station
Two potentiometers that measure horizontal and vertical sweep angles
Single load cell that the tether attaches to, which measures tether tension
Sensors wired into NI DAQ device which worked in conjunction with LabView to record and process signals

7. Experiments

8. Results All flights were powered Glider lost altitude over time
For 1 loop
Taut
Tether Tension was lbs
During Loop
Varied from 0.23 lbs to 5.78 lbs
Tether tension expected to increase with more loops
Max glider speed of 45 mph

9. Engineering Req. Checklist

10. Future Iterations Glider lost altitude over time
Believed to be caused by our bridle setup
Design a plane for a 2 point bridle system
Aileron Control while in flight path
More robust plane
Too difficult for human control
Automation would be required

11. Questions?