Airborne Manoeuvre Tracking Device for Kite-based Wind Power Generation

Abstract

Airborne wind technology eliminates the structure costs and reaches higher altitudes for extracting the power from stronger winds. The main objective is to perform the aerodynamic test on the airfoil kite with lightweight, low-power wireless devices for better data reception. The kite maneuvers in eight shapes to deliver maximum power; therefore, the positioning device has to be low powered, low weight, and weatherproof, to avoid indeterminacy in airfoil flight at 200–300 m altitude. The device consists of ultra-low-power TI CC1310 SimpleLink Sub-1Ghz wireless Microcontroller Unit (MCU), GPS Sensor, Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) to find the speed, direction, longitude, latitude, and altitude, roll, pitch, and yaw at the ground station, for controlling the tethered wings autonomously. The base station receives data at 868 MHz optimum frequency at 50 kbps data rate; the optimized frequency is estimated using a virtual toolbox and a field test. © 2021, The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.