Modeling toolset for airborne wind energy systems

机载风能（AWE）是传统风力涡轮机的新兴替代品；风筝或飞机不是放在塔顶的旋翼，而是系在缆绳的一端，在空中以图案飞行。AWE有两种改型，一种是风筝/飞机用地面上的发电机拉进拉出缆绳，第二种改型是风筝/飞机上的涡轮机在船上发电并通过导电缆绳将电力传输到地面。该项目致力于为前者的概念构建设计工具。这些工具是必需的，因为在不稳定风的情况下，系统动力学非常复杂，地面站组件的大小直接关系到对将传递的不稳定载荷的理解，以及整个系统整体运行效率的最大化。

Airborne wind energy (AWE) is an emerging alternative to conventional wind turbines; instead of a rotor sitting atop a tower, a kite or plane is attached to the end of a tether and flies a pattern in air. There are two variants of AWE, one with the kite/plane pulling the tether in and out with a generator on the ground, and the second variant with a turbine on the kite/plane generating power on-board and transmitting the power to the ground via a conductive tether. This project is working on building design tools for the former concept. These tools are needed as the system dynamics in the presence of unsteady winds are very complicated, and the sizing of the ground station components directly related to understanding well the unsteady loads that will be imparted, as well as maximizing efficiency of the overall operation of the entire system.