Pumping Cycle Kite Power with Twings
Pumping cycle kite power has attracted considerable interest over the last years with several start ups and research teams investigating the technology. While all these groups produce electrical power with a ground based generator in a cyclic process, there is no consent about the shape, structure and control of the flying object. In particular the launching and landing strategy has not been settled yet. TwingTec has followed a pragmatic approach focusing on the flying part of the system. The spin off from Empa and FHNW has developed over the last years in close collaboration with leading research institutes from Switzerland the twing, an acronym for tethered wing. The guiding principle behind the design of the twing was to combine the light weight property of a kite with the aerodynamic properties of a glider plane. Launching and landing was solved by integrating rotors into the structure allowing the twing to hover. Launching, transition into crosswind, autonomous power production, transition into hover and landing has been demonstrated with the current small scale test system.