Messages in AirborneWindEnergy group.                                 AWES1424to1473
Page 9 of 79.

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1424 From: brooksdesign Date: 4/12/2010
Subject: wind data logger

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1425 From: dave santos Date: 4/12/2010
Subject: Re: DDWFTTW (direct downwind faster then the wind)

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1426 From: Doug Date: 4/13/2010
Subject: Re: Joby & Google moving toward collaboration? Selsam? USWINDLABS? ~

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1427 From: Doug Date: 4/13/2010
Subject: Selsam Superturbine in April "WIndPower Engineering" Magazine

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1428 From: Doug Date: 4/13/2010
Subject: A way to Do DDWFTTW (downwind faster then the wind)

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1429 From: dave santos Date: 4/13/2010
Subject: Re: DDWFTTW Re: Selsam? USWINDLABS? ~~

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1430 From: dave santos Date: 4/13/2010
Subject: Re: A way to Do DDWFTTW (downwind faster then the wind)

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1431 From: Doug Date: 4/13/2010
Subject: DDWFTTW Re: Selsam? USWINDLABS? ~~

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1432 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/13/2010
Subject: Re: Makani Test Photo

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1433 From: Doug Date: 4/14/2010
Subject: More ways to Do DDWFTTW (downwind faster then the wind)

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1434 From: Bob Stuart Date: 4/14/2010
Subject: Re: More ways to Do DDWFTTW (downwind faster then the wind)

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1435 From: dave santos Date: 4/15/2010
Subject: Secret Guide to FreeFlight (sample)

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1436 From: Inman Harvey Date: 4/15/2010
Subject: Re: Secret Guide to FreeFlight (sample)

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1437 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/15/2010
Subject: Re: Secret Guide to FreeFlight (sample)

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1438 From: Pierre Benhaiem Date: 4/15/2010
Subject: Secret Guide to FreeFlight (sample)

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1439 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/16/2010
Subject: Faired main tether from FF-AWE

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1440 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/16/2010
Subject: Tether conduction of _____

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1441 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/16/2010
Subject: Re: Tether conduction of _____

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1442 From: Doug Date: 4/16/2010
Subject: Re: Secret Guide to FreeFlight (sample) flying sailboats

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1443 From: Dan Parker Date: 4/16/2010
Subject: Re: Tether conduction of _____

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1444 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/16/2010
Subject: Wong

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1445 From: dave santos Date: 4/16/2010
Subject: Self-Ferrying FlyGen KitePlanes

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1446 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/16/2010
Subject: Re: Tether conduction of _____

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1447 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/16/2010
Subject: Construction lessons from HPA

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1448 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/16/2010
Subject: Re: Secret Guide to FreeFlight (sample)

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1449 From: dave santos Date: 4/16/2010
Subject: Re: Tether conduction of _____

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1450 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/16/2010
Subject: Greenland AWECS ?

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1451 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/17/2010
Subject: Re: Greenland AWECS ?

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1452 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/17/2010
Subject: Laboratori de envol

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1453 From: Dan Parker Date: 4/18/2010
Subject: Re: Tether conduction of _____

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1454 From: dave santos Date: 4/20/2010
Subject: Charging E-Flight Networks Aloft

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1455 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/22/2010
Subject: SODAR a.k.a.: sounder, echosounder and acoustic radar

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1456 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/23/2010
Subject: SkySails advancing

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1457 From: dave santos Date: 4/23/2010
Subject: Re: SkySails not advancing

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1458 From: dave santos Date: 4/25/2010
Subject: Japanese/Mexican Consortium Develops Mini-AWECS

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1459 From: Pierre BENHAIEM Date: 4/26/2010
Subject: Re: SkySails not advancing

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1460 From: dave santos Date: 4/26/2010
Subject: Re: SkySails not advancing

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1461 From: Pierre BENHAIEM Date: 4/27/2010
Subject: Re: SkySails not advancing

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1462 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/27/2010
Subject: Communicating Collision Courses

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1463 From: Doug Date: 4/27/2010
Subject: Re: SkySails not advancing

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1464 From: Pierre BENHAIEM Date: 4/27/2010
Subject: Re: Communicating Collision Courses

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1465 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/27/2010
Subject: Drachen Foundation's April 10, 2010, Discourse

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1466 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/28/2010
Subject: Potential online Links

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1467 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/28/2010
Subject: Q1 2010 Joby Energy Quarterly, inaugural issue

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1468 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/28/2010
Subject: Airborne Wind Energy Consortium AWEC

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1469 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/28/2010
Subject: PM direct-direct brushless motor development

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1470 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/28/2010
Subject: AWE Conference 2010

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1471 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/28/2010
Subject: JoeBen Bevirt interviewed by Clean Skies News

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1472 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/28/2010
Subject: JoeBen Bevirt spoke on April 15, 2010

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1473 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/28/2010
Subject: Re: Airborne Wind Energy Consortium AWEC




Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1424 From: brooksdesign Date: 4/12/2010
Subject: wind data logger
I saw this one on GlobalSpec. Too bad it does not really sample the wind where even the turbines work from.
http://www.globalspec.com/FeaturedProducts/Detail?ExhibitID=103736&id=-2112900601&uh=a2cc12&email=brooksdesign%40peoplepc.com&md=100412&mh=03ae57&Vol=Vol5Issue4&Pub=56&LinkId=600318&keyword=link_600318&vid=2565&frmtrk=newsletter
-brooks

________________________________________
PeoplePC Online
A better way to Internet
http://www.peoplepc.com
Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1425 From: dave santos Date: 4/12/2010
Subject: Re: DDWFTTW (direct downwind faster then the wind)
Bob,
 
DDWFTTW is a real mind bender with a vast online buzz. The physics & kite forums have great threads. The basic principle is that any two mediums or flows moving relative to each other can be tapped by creating a drive-train between them, which extracts energy by slowing/resisting the relative motion (ie., a wind turbine).
 
To then move that drivetrain faster than the relative motion along the direction of one of the mediums (like direct downwind) is then a simple matter of gearing to that medium (the surface) in high gear & transferring some force to the other medium (airscrew in relative headwind) in low gear. Inputs/outputs can be wheels, airscrews, wings, skate runners, fin-keels, etc.. The drivetrains can be levers, gears, chains/belts/strings, etc.. Reversing the gear ratio allows the inverse trick- direct upwind faster than the wind.
 
To keep this thread on topic (AWE) let us note that its Wayne German's insight that two tethered airfoils working against each other in wind gradients & shears can in principle travel in any direction at high speeds ("freeflight"). An tethered airfoil modulates "gear ratio" by variable AoA & sweep pattern.
 
dave
 
 



Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1426 From: Doug Date: 4/13/2010
Subject: Re: Joby & Google moving toward collaboration? Selsam? USWINDLABS? ~
Why not just forget about airborne wind energy and concentrate exclusively on perpetual motion machines? Shouldn;t somebody modify the thread to "perpetual motion and other magic"? Isn;t there already a Yahoo list for perpetual motion?

How about a boat in a river that uses the river's power to go downstream faster than the current? Should be the same basic technology. How'bout "No fair touching bottom", and it has to be steady-state: no stored energy allowed. And what about using weighted balls to make a rotating perpetual-motion gravity machine? Sure it's been tried for thousands of years but the level of genius on this list has not yet been applied, has it???

How 'bout a magnetic perpetual motion machine. Typically people use shielding to block the magnetic field at some point in a rotating machine. How 'bout that? Sure, again, tried for at least hundreds of years but what about the new supermagnets? Maybe it can work with the combination of supermagnets and the immense talent cited herein in these posts. Let's design a flying machine where you pull upward on your shoelaces too.
ahem! class, can we get back to work?
If anyone is serious about developing airborne wind energy, terrain-enabled wind energym etc., they had better get to work and stop wasting time with peripheral detours, in my ever so mofo humble opinion. Stop blogging, and start slogging! (Thru the muck of the actual work it will take to do this, that is...)
lovingly yours, Doug Selsam
http://www.USWINDLABS.com
latest video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20S5Gu-ZbfI
Maboomba.

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1427 From: Doug Date: 4/13/2010
Subject: Selsam Superturbine in April "WIndPower Engineering" Magazine
Superturbine(R) article: WindPower Engineering Magazine, April 2010 Issue, Page 72, covers Selsam multi-rotor designs, including airborne, with 3 illustrations.
Nice to see the mainstream wind energy press covering AWE in any form.

Article Title:
"Clever Idea Floats More than a Turbine"

Superturbine(R) got all of page 72.
WindPower Engineering Magazine, April 2010 Issue

Doug Selsam
714-992-5594
http://www.USWINDLABS.com
Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1428 From: Doug Date: 4/13/2010
Subject: A way to Do DDWFTTW (downwind faster then the wind)
OK here would be a "thought experiment" way to accomplish the desired faster-than-wind downwind travel in at least a quasi-steady-state:
(sorry I couldn't resist)

Apparatus:
1) Start with a long, stiff, lightweight, streamlined arm, oriented across the wind. This arm has a left end and a right end.
2) This arm is mounted on theoretically-frictionless caster wheels so it's free to travel downwind, or in any direction for that matter.
3) This arm has a point that can be jammed into the ground, located AT each end (2 points total, one point at each end of the arm, a left point and a right point) like a compass point, only bigger. (powder-actuated?) :)
4) This arm has a sail that pushes downwind, mounted near, but not at, each end, say 1/4 of the way in from each end. 2 sails total, a left sail and a right sail.

Procedure:
Step A) insert left point into ground. Disable (furl) right sail.
Step B) Allow left sail to catch wind and push downwind. Assume the left sail is pushed downwind at 1/2 the windspeed. This will make the right end of the arm travel downwind faster than the wind, at twice the windspeed.
Step C) furl left sail and deploy right sail.
Step D) Insert right point into ground. Right end of arm is now immobilized. Pull left point out of the ground (ugh!) Allow right sail to catch the wind, pushing the arm downwind, now pushing the LEFT end downwind, faster than the wind by 2x.
Step E) Repeat above 4 steps.

Resulting net travel is downwind at twice the windspeed.
Acceleration and braking times for each end not included.

Ha ha ha i did a funny.
That procedure is much like stopping, catching the wind from a stationary position, and storing the power and then using the stored power to race ahead in some streamlined configuration.
Of course this is cheating, but, like Superturbine(R), so what, if it works? :)))

Doug Selsam
http://www.USWINDLABS.com
~<brawk!
Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1429 From: dave santos Date: 4/13/2010
Subject: Re: DDWFTTW Re: Selsam? USWINDLABS? ~~
Doug,
 
The official DDWFTTW record that the North American Land Sailing Association is sanctioning & Joby/Google is sponsoring is far from "perpetual motion", just basic Newtonian physics. Its not even a "wish turbine", as you put it, for they already showed 2x downwind speed at Ivanpah. My own direct upwind demos, with two turbines on a long driveshaft, were 20 yrs ago.
 
Speaking of wishes, how goes your effort to somehow fly a SuperTurbine in wind higher than your towers? You recently posted us (off-topic) yet another tower-based turbine, but where is your 1kw "weekend project" to fly high & impress the AWE world on its own terms?
 
dave
 



Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1430 From: dave santos Date: 4/13/2010
Subject: Re: A way to Do DDWFTTW (downwind faster then the wind)
Doug,
 
What you describe is much like these wingmill crawler vehicles i did in the mid nineties-
 
 
These specifically crawl fast directly upwind, but variants can potentially do DDWFTTW. Also, faster than a river downstream is in principle possible by exploiting current gradients & reverse eddies,
 
daveS



Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1431 From: Doug Date: 4/13/2010
Subject: DDWFTTW Re: Selsam? USWINDLABS? ~~
Hi Dave you are right it is not perpetual motion.
I was saying "perpetual-motion-flavored" cuz it has that "get something for nothing" feel but then I couldn't resist joining the fun. Of course what is wind energy all about, if not getting something for nothing, and high altitude will prevail if it can produce even more, for even less.

I didn't know about the record and all, pretty cool. I guess people are way ahead of me on the topic of faster-than wind downwind travel, though having grown up around ice boats there is no surprise here.
Although with regard to faster-than wind travel across the wind, I like to use fast high TSR blades, especially when light weight and performance are paramount over noise. The typical ratio for high TSR blades is 8 or 10 meaning if the wind is 50 mph, your blade tips are going 400-500 mph. No wonder I needed 15 stitches after being hit by a little 3-foot diameter propeller!

Anyway my recent post is not off-topic: it refers to a video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20S5Gu-ZbfI
that demonstrates a slanted driveshaft section around 25 feet long with 5 five-foot diameter rotors making 1000 - 5000 watts steady-state power in a ~30 mph wind. A single 5-foot rotor can not make this kind of power at normal windspeeds. I wanted people to be able to see with their own eyes that this power is for real.

The upper end of the driveshaft projects upward above the top of the tower. The implication is a 2500-foot long driveshaft of the same basic configuration could make half a megawatt. Or at a couple of hundred feet it would power your all-electric home. This is just a demo. I think it is good to be able to see the meters and verify some serious power being produced. The tower is just one more way to elevate it. It is a first step, useful as it is already to power a home or the grid, which it is doing both in the video through a battery bank and grid-tie inverters. I am climbing the stairway to heaven one step at a time.
Doug Selsam
http://www.USWINDLABS.com

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1432 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/13/2010
Subject: Re: Makani Test Photo

 

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1433 From: Doug Date: 4/14/2010
Subject: More ways to Do DDWFTTW (downwind faster then the wind)
1) OK so you start with a very tall (large diameter), very thin rolling wheel, with little air resistance, rolling downwind.
2) a Savonius-type rotor, smaller in diameter than the wheel, is attached to the wheel at its center, configured to rotate in the opposite direction to the wheel. This special Savonius is configured so the upwind-traveling blades have almost no resistance - perhaps folding blades, many such schemes have been floated in the past.
3) nonetheless since the wheel is touching ground at the bottom (locked in place), with the top free to move, the Savonius rotor is compelled to rotate "backwards" to its normal rotational direction, yet compels the wheel to rotate in the proper dir\ection so the machine rolls downwind.

alternatively:
2) A Darrieus-type turbine projects outward from each side of the wheel, whereby the Darrieus-type blades make their power traveling ACROSS the wind (in this case up or down, as modified by the wheel's forward movement during rotation.
3) Now the Darrieus blades will make the most power when traveling across the wind which means nearest the ground in their travel. Nonetheless, the Darrieus rotor should be able to power the wheel at faster-than-windspeed, straight downwind, in a steady-state.

In essence, since no physical laws are violated, there are a myriad (unlimited number?) of ways to accomplish this and they could be thought up and listed all day long.

Question: How does this get us any closer to airbourne wind energy?
Or is it a convenient way of "giving up" by finding a sufficiently interesting detour from our original goal? It kind of reminds me of, instead of staying on topic, continually changing the subject.
Someone once compared the focus of one's effort to the sun's rays through a magnifying glass. You won't cause ignition unless you hold the focus on a particular spot long enough to get it hot enough to start a fire. In the case of high altitude wind energy, or any other goal, every new diversion merely delays the point when our effort must be sufficiently focused to provide power at lower cost than existing turbines, wherever they may be mounted.

Yeah yeah I know - underdeveloped countries etc. Sure, that's always the armchair engineer's answer - if it's too expensive for advanced countries maybe poor people can afford it! Let me know when Botswana is the new hot spot for technological advance: come to think of it, in this topsy-turvey world it may not be as farfetched as it sounds today. All we have to do is continue to fail-to-execute for long enough, to come up with no working solutions, and someone else will eventually overtake us!

Of course then again with so many government agencies applying so many PhD's and millions of dollars to the problem of clean energy, why should we little people bother trying anything at all? These folks probably have it all figured out and don't need us anyway, right? I mean you couldn't imagine the government just wasting all that money could you? :)))))))))))))

Doug Selsam
http://www.USWINDLABS.com
~<brawk!
Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1434 From: Bob Stuart Date: 4/14/2010
Subject: Re: More ways to Do DDWFTTW (downwind faster then the wind)
This stuff gets us closer to airborne wind energy by giving us some good mental exercise, where progress is easier than on our old challenges.  And, something from this may later connect with our main goal or other worthwhile work.  A great many valuable ideas have come from eccentricities in education creating new juxtapositions.  Combinations of minds, available materials, equipment, land, and other factors are all part of the usual sloppy creative process.  We'll know better with hindsight.

Bob Stuart

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1435 From: dave santos Date: 4/15/2010
Subject: Secret Guide to FreeFlight (sample)
The physics of extracting flow energy with wings from a velocity gradient or shear is fundamental to AWE. By studying sailing & soaring we learn key principles. A sailboat, for example, works its way windward in shear flow by opposing sail lift to keel lift.
 
Similarly, the surface wind gradient allows two opposed kites to sail upwind without contact with the surface (windward freeflight). The upper kite is set on a crosswind tack like a sail. The lower kite in slower wind now sees a created relative wind to set to on the opposed tack, like the sailboat's keel sees its relative flow. Both kites need to be moderately high L/D, line drag must be kept low, & the wind gradient must be minimally steep, but the implication is clear: Just as a sailboat works to windward, the two kites can also sail to windward, as Wayne German prophesied.
 
Regions of strong windshear abound. The surface gradient is ubiquitous, but weather systems & mountains also create vast predictable shear zones. Wayne German is mad about LLJs (low level jets) that form over surface humps & inversions.
 
coopip
 
PS Doug is right that the rich may cluelessly cling to old discredited ways, as long as the party lasts, while the poor may leapfrog into superior technology (cell phone adoption followed this pattern). Everyone will fly standby on FreeFlight Airlines.

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1436 From: Inman Harvey Date: 4/15/2010
Subject: Re: Secret Guide to FreeFlight (sample)

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1437 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/15/2010
Subject: Re: Secret Guide to FreeFlight (sample)
Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1438 From: Pierre Benhaiem Date: 4/15/2010
Subject: Secret Guide to FreeFlight (sample)

Another sample:Aerosail Stéphane Rousson 

PierreB

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1439 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/16/2010
Subject: Faired main tether from FF-AWE

From Free-Flight AWECS

 

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1440 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/16/2010
Subject: Tether conduction of _____

Various tether patents mention conduction of electricity, chemicals, water, gases, air, hydrogen, helium up and down the interior of the tether.  Here is a conduction of water forced up a tether to bring forward a jetting of a pilot:

http://jetlev.com/

"Hmmmm"    the sender to me noted.

Tether conduction:

  • Recharge lifter kytoons in AWECSs
  • Send up one chemical and bring down a changed energy-loaded chemical
  • Send down heated water
  • Send down tether air for food or crop drying room
  • Send up hydrogen or helium
  • Bring down air for cooling a room in a very hot district
  • Vibration
  • Directed tension to drive booms, rods, shafts
  • Message conduction
  • Signal conduciton
  • Air up to pressurized fairings and kite parts
  • ?  
  • ?<have at it
Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1441 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/16/2010
Subject: Re: Tether conduction of _____

What are the limits to getting something airborne or launched to heights via reaction use of water?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn-CVQh62Eo

Cousin: AWECS spraying water to crops, to area to be cooled, to fighting fires, etc.

...what else?

 

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1442 From: Doug Date: 4/16/2010
Subject: Re: Secret Guide to FreeFlight (sample) flying sailboats
Hi Dave S. and thanks for including me in your post.
I have wondered all my life why people haven't been building flying sailboats with underwater keels at the end of a tether, and am glad to see that people are finally starting to build a few examples of the myriad of possibilities that are out there waiting to help humanity to generate more power, travel effortlessly, and have more fun!
:)
Doug Selsam
http://www.USWINDLABS.com


Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1443 From: Dan Parker Date: 4/16/2010
Subject: Re: Tether conduction of _____
Hi Joe,
 
         How'a bout we pump up AWE, when winds are up, as longs as winds are greater then pumper. I know, Dave, the weight of water tube runnin up hill may be a limiting fator, unless lifter pump is extreme high presure sys. Then yah gotta think of the lil fishies, but the Rainbow in sun light would be so kewl.
 
                                                                                               Dan'l

To: AirborneWindEnergy@yahoogroups.com
From: joefaust333@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 16 Apr 2010 16:48:51 +0000
Subject: [AWECS] Tether conduction of _____

 

Various tether patents mention conduction of electricity, chemicals, water, gases, air, hydrogen, helium up and down the interior of the tether.  Here is a conduction of water forced up a tether to bring forward a jetting of a pilot:
http://jetlev. com/
"Hmmmm"    the sender to me noted.
Tether conduction:

  • Recharge lifter kytoons in AWECSs
  • Send up one chemical and bring down a changed energy-loaded chemical
  • Send down heated water
  • Send down tether air for food or crop drying room
  • Send up hydrogen or helium
  • Bring down air for cooling a room in a very hot district
  • Vibration
  • Directed tension to drive booms, rods, shafts
  • Message conduction
  • Signal conduciton
  • Air up to pressurized fairings and kite parts
  • ?  
  • ?<have at it


The New Busy think 9 to 5 is a cute idea. Combine multiple calendars with Hotmail. Get busy.
Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1444 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/16/2010
Subject: Wong

Did Wong miss seeing how kites as AWECS could play within his schemes?  Aloft electric-generating kites
might supply some of the electricity that he seems to be needing in his remediation and communication
schemes.

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1445 From: dave santos Date: 4/16/2010
Subject: Self-Ferrying FlyGen KitePlanes
Large scale flygen kiteplanes have been proposed by Joby Energy as modular construction sets able to fit in conventional shipping containers. KiteLab Group has disclosed aerotowing as a viable alternative, but this entails a separate tow aircraft.
 
The latest solution is to add an auxiliary generator package that might burn conventional fuel to generate electricity a flygen kiteplane requires in motoring mode to ferry itself over long distances. The generator could then be used as an UPS backup to the AWECS or be the one component shipped back conventionally. 
 
FairIP
 
Disambiguation Note- CoopIP is being renamed FairIP, where any AWE conceptual creator working outside the broken patent system can claim a moral right to compensation on an "honor system" basis. It is anticipated that socially responsible companies will honor & even create FairIP, if costs are kept low overall & lower than competitive patented IP.
 
CoopIP is henceforth defined as pooled FairIP & patents, copyrights, etc. along cooperative principles.
 
 

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1446 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/16/2010
Subject: Re: Tether conduction of _____

--- In AirborneWindEnergy@yahoogroups.com, Dan Parker <spiralairfoil@...

Spray from AWECS to get rainbows for special events? 
Mine the winds aloft to power a sprayer-mister to get the mist to form rainbows.
Gift event for anniversary?  Prayer meeting?  Event celebration?  Photography?

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2572/3891841823_44d7049032.jpg

http://forum.xcitefun.net/files/rainbow_baobab_tree_joubert_1011931_ga_194.jpg

Nice, Dan'l

JoeF

 

 

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1447 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/16/2010
Subject: Construction lessons from HPA

Human-powered aircraft construction lessons over a century have gems for the construction of some AWECS.

Starter:

http://www.raes.org.uk/cms/uploaded/files/SG_HPAG_phoenix.pdf

 

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1448 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/16/2010
Subject: Re: Secret Guide to FreeFlight (sample)


In that direction, Pierre,

Some flashes when sharing this:

  • When balloon with prop is set for dropping from very high:  Let the pitch change and let the drop flight drive an electric generator.
  • Sky divers: Have on board a small RAT or ram-air turbine and charge a battery or so on the way down.    Also, with a braking fin, let the entire parachute be a spinner; in the interface have a generator and charge some batteries.
  • RATs on slope-soaring hang gliders and paragliders?  When there is just plenty of lift?  These free-flying kites have the pilot as moving mooring. A small RAT could keep the batteries of a video camera charged. Perhaps the RAT could give some energy for a hand or body heater when slope-soaring in the very cold.
Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1449 From: dave santos Date: 4/16/2010
Subject: Re: Tether conduction of _____
The use of water reaction for lift is very marginal, the "jet-pack" only goes about thirty feet up with 250hp. But a flying fire hose is a powerful idea. There is also interest in what might be the cheapest method to spray cloud tops with seawater to increase solar reflectance & fight global warming.
 
Small water rockets might be a fast cheap low altitude launch method. We used to get about three hundred feet high with taped soda bottles. Its fascinating to see how prisoners in supermax prisons have mastered the art of "rat lines" where they fire bits of cardboard under cell doors to drag out threads that are then snagged by neighboring cells. They manage a flexible contraband network all over the cell block, even up & down floors, & across freespace, by many astounding maneuvers. Similarly, we can envision line grappling & payload exchange, with water rockets being a more compact & safer method than strict ballistic launch, & cheaper & more robust than regular UAVs.
 
 
A weird "tether conductance" concept is a battery ladder mill, where a cable loop of batteries rise discharged & return to earth charged. Its not immediately clear how powerful this idea might prove. Winged & ballistic batteries have interesting power curves.
 
FairIP
 
 

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1450 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/16/2010
Subject: Greenland AWECS ?

Energy Impulse

just published an AWE-mentioning article

Prospects for Trans-Atlantic Undersea Power Transmission
4.13.10   Harry Valentine, Commentator/Energy Researcher

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1451 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/17/2010
Subject: Re: Greenland AWECS ?

http://www.energypulse.net/centers/article/article_display.cfm?a_id=2268 

Prospects for Trans-Atlantic Undersea Power Transmission 4.13.10

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1452 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/17/2010
Subject: Laboratori de envol

Some things for AWE within Pere's many gifts:

Dear Friends,
 Some developments in the Laboratory
 
 LEparagliding 1.0 paraglider design software released. Free GNU General Public License . No graphical user interface, really hard to use! but it works!
 http://www.laboratoridenvol.com/leparagliding/leparagliding.en.html
 
 And  gnuLAB2  paraglider project released rando-light paraglider, 29 cells, and 7+ glide ratio estimation...
 http://www.laboratoridenvol.com/projects/gnuLAB2/gnuLAB2.en.html
 
 The gnuLAB2 prototype construction, which has to confirm the proper functioning of the design software, has already begun. Using fabric NCV 9017 40 g/m2 for extrados and Bainbridge AIRX 31 gr/m2 for intrados surface and for the ribs (with 42 gr/m2 reinforcements). I hope to show beautiful images of the gnuLAB2 in flight in early summer over Catalan landscapes. Details here:
 http://www.gliderengineering.com/laboratoridenvol/projects/gnuLAB2/construction/index.en.html
 
 I've also added a new chapter to the paraglider design book:
 Chapter 7: V-ribs and H-ribs technology
 http://www.laboratoridenvol.com/paragliderdesign/V-H-ribs.html
 
 As always, all data are freely available to study, copy, and further development. Life is too short to hide data.
 
 best regards,   ~~~~ Pere Casellas

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1453 From: Dan Parker Date: 4/18/2010
Subject: Re: Tether conduction of _____
Dave Santos,
 
            The Sea Anchor Plane
 
                     Just a thought.
 
                               If the Sea Anchor/Hydro Plane had a scoop that let the water in and the tether allowed the water to rise up within the Tether, being pulled by sky kite, one would have a moving water pump. I do not know just what good this could do or how to expand upon it. If a turbine was fashioned into the Scoop then you could extract power down low, however I fear for the Jelly fish and others.
                I was checking out high pressure water jets, best I could find was 3500 psi, years ago I used one that was 2000 psi and was amazed by the amount of thrust. If some one combined three 3500 psi off one line you'd have a stable airborne platform that could rise a distance and be maneuverable through the use of radio controlled jets, contingent upon how fat the feed line is would determine altitude of lifter. Also note a steam boiler event could possible do the same. Fire suppression should be considered, have em built right into a building concept.
 
                                                                                       Dan'l 
 

To: AirborneWindEnergy@yahoogroups.com
From: santos137@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 16 Apr 2010 15:57:08 -0700
Subject: RE: [AWECS] Tether conduction of _____

 
The use of water reaction for lift is very marginal, the "jet-pack" only goes about thirty feet up with 250hp. But a flying fire hose is a powerful idea. There is also interest in what might be the cheapest method to spray cloud tops with seawater to increase solar reflectance & fight global warming.
 
Small water rockets might be a fast cheap low altitude launch method. We used to get about three hundred feet high with taped soda bottles. Its fascinating to see how prisoners in supermax prisons have mastered the art of "rat lines" where they fire bits of cardboard under cell doors to drag out threads that are then snagged by neighboring cells. They manage a flexible contraband network all over the cell block, even up & down floors, & across freespace, by many astounding maneuvers. Similarly, we can envision line grappling & payload exchange, with water rockets being a more compact & safer method than strict ballistic launch, & cheaper & more robust than regular UAVs.
 
 
A weird "tether conductance" concept is a battery ladder mill, where a cable loop of batteries rise discharged & return to earth charged. Its not immediately clear how powerful this idea might prove. Winged & ballistic batteries have interesting power curves.
 
FairIP
 
 




The New Busy think 9 to 5 is a cute idea. Combine multiple calendars with Hotmail. Get busy.
Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1454 From: dave santos Date: 4/20/2010
Subject: Charging E-Flight Networks Aloft
For decades aeromodellers have witnessed E-flight (electric aviation) supplant fuel-based flight. Now full scale electric aircraft are proven & allowed by the FAA. E-flight is recognized by NASA & Boeing as a viable industrial technology option. Even electric airliners are seriously proposed. Notable aviation records are E-flight based, particularly altitude & endurance demonstrations. Most are based on a trickle of solar power, but this is a very marginal power supply.
 
E-flight will soon be able to tap far more concentrated power source aloft from HAWP stations, particularly autogyro flygens like Sky WindPower's. As has been noted in this forum, using flygen power aloft avoids the severe penalties of long heavy high-voltage cables to the surface. Swift electric aircraft, like Joby & Makani are developing, could shuttle as transports between HAWP stations, fast-recharging as required & opportunistically soar-charging on mountain waves & convective columns.
 
How HAWP stations may operate 24/7 thru calms (ie, motoring or surface towed) while serving as utility elevators & comm hubs has been described. Many options exist for diverse E-flight/AWE network applications & the potential is almost unlimited.
 
KiteLab Group
 
CoopIP/FairIP

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1455 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/22/2010
Subject: SODAR a.k.a.: sounder, echosounder and acoustic radar

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SODAR

How will SODAR play in AWE?

What will be the the future costs of evolved sodar?

Will kytooned instruments supplant SODAR?

Will a net of upwind SODAR reading feed smart controls of AWECS?

http://www.iedat.com/sodar.html http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2010/03/dutch-research-center-validates-second-winds-technology http://www.secondwind.com/index.html
Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1456 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/23/2010
Subject: SkySails advancing

Traction and electricity generation:

 1. (099) (WO 2010/020263) AERODYNAMIC WIND PROPULSION DEVICE HAVING BIELASTIC LINE COUPLING 25.02.2010 F03D 7/00 SKYSAILS GMBH & CO. KG
  The invention relates to an aerodynamic wind propulsion device, particularly for watercrafts, comprising an aerodynamic wing being connected to a steering unit located below the aerodynamic wing via a plurality of tractive lines, a tractive cable, a first end of the tractive cable being connected to the steering unit and a second end of the tractive cable being connected to a base platform, the aerodynamic wing having an aerodynamic profile which generates an uplift force in the direction of the tractive cable when the airflow direction is about perpendicular to the tractive cable. According to the invention, an aerodynamic wing is provided being coupled to a steering unit located close below the wing via a plurality of tractive lines of di...
 
 2. (000) (WO 2005/100147) POSITIONING DEVICE FOR A FREE-FLYING KITE-TYPE WIND-ATTACKED ELEMENT IN A WIND-POWERED WATERCRAFT 27.10.2005 B63H 9/06 SKYSAILS GMBH & CO. KG
  Disclosed is a positioning device for a free-flying kite-type wind-attacked element (1) that comprises a profiled wing, is used as the exclusive, an auxiliary, or an emergency drive unit, and is connected to a watercraft (4) via a traction rope (1.1). Said positioning device is provided with a winch (2) that encompasses means which cause the traction rope (1.1) to be taken in when a given first tractive force is not attained and/or when the flow is about to stop or has stopped abruptly and/or cause the traction rope (1.1) to be veered when a given second tractive force and/or a given inflow velocity are/is exceeded.
 
 3. (000) (WO 2005/100148) WATERCRAFT COMPRISING A FREE-FLYING MANEUVERABLE WIND-ATTACKED ELEMENT AS A DRIVE UNIT 27.10.2005 B63H 9/06 SKYSAILS GMBH & CO. KG
  Disclosed is a wind-powered watercraft (4) in which at least one free-flying kite-type wind-attacked element (1) having a profiled wing is connected to the vessel body only via a traction rope as the exclusive, an auxiliary, or an emergency drive unit. Said watercraft (4) is characterized in that control means are provided which dynamically guide the wind-attacked element (1) comprising a profiled wing (101) on a helical or sinusoidal trajectory that is closed from the perspective of the watercraft but extends substantially in a vertical direction relative to the air flow, at a velocity vector running essentially perpendicular to the air flow of the wind. The different trajectories or a static flying state can be variably selected by the co...
 
 4. (000) (WO 2005/100149) WATERCRAFT COMPRISING A FREE-FLYING KITE-TYPE WIND-ATTACKED ELEMENT AS A WIND-POWERED DRIVE UNIT 27.10.2005 B63H 9/06 SKYSAILS GMBH & CO. KG
  Disclosed is a wind-powered watercraft (4) in which a free-flying kite-type wind-attacked element (1) that is provided with a profiled wing and is used as the exclusive, an auxiliary, or an emergency drive unit is connected to the vessel (4) only via one traction rope (1.1), said traction rope (1.1) optionally fanning out into a number of holding ropes. The wind-attacked element (1) can be modified via at least one active driving element (1.2) that is disposed thereupon and is effectively connected thereto by modifying the aerodynamic effect thereof in order to be guided into a given position relative to the watercraft (4) or to dynamically maneuver.
 
 5. (000) (WO 2005/100150) PLACEMENT SYSTEM FOR A FLYING KITE-TYPE WIND-ATTACKED ELEMENT IN A WIND-POWERED WATERCRAFT 27.10.2005 B63H 9/06 SKYSAILS GMBH & CO. KG
  Disclosed is a placement system for a free-flying kite-type wind-attacked element (101) in a watercraft in which the kite-type wind-attacked element (101) comprising a profiled wing is connected to the vessel body via a traction rope (1.1). Said wind-attacked element (101) can be guided from a neutral position on board the watercraft into a raised position that is free from obstacles located at the same or a higher level. An azimuthally pivotable fixture (181) is provided by means of which the wind-attacked element (101) can be brought into a position in which the same is exposed to an sufficient wind effect. Furthermore, a docking receiving device (181) is provided which is to be removably connected to the docking adapter of the wind-attac...
 
 6. (000) (WO 2006/027194) WATER CRAFT COMPRISING A KITE-TYPE ELEMENT 16.03.2006 B63B 59/00 SKYSAILS GMBH & CO. KG
  The invention relates to a water craft comprising a kite-type element, which is connected to said water craft by means of a traction cable (1). Said water craft is characterised in that the kite-type element (23) is equipped with adjusting devices, which are supplied with energy from the water craft (21), said energy being transmitted in the traction cable (1) or by an element on the latter.
 
 7. (000) (WO 2006/027195) WATER CRAFT COMPRISING A KITE-TYPE ELEMENT 16.03.2006 B63H 9/06 SKYSAILS GMBH & CO. KG
  The invention relates to a water craft comprising a kite-type element, which is connected to the water craft by means of a traction cable (3). Said water craft is characterised in that the kite-type element is equipped with adjusting devices and an energy generation unit (1), which delivers energy when the tractive force that is exerted on the traction cable (3) is modified.
 
 8. (000) (WO 2008/019700) STARTING AND RECOVERING DEVICE FOR AN AERODYNAMIC PROFILED ELEMENT, AND AERODYNAMIC PROFILED ELEMENT 21.02.2008 B63B 35/79 SKYSAILS GMBH & CO. KG
  The invention relates to an aerodynamic profiled element for generating power by means of a tractive force, especially for driving watercraft. Said profiled element comprises a flexible top layer that extends in a transversal direction and a longitudinal direction, a flexible bottom layer which extends parallel to the top layer and is connected to the top layer by means of several webs that run in a downward direction of the profiled element, an air-filled interior space between the top and the bottom layer, at least one ventilation hole for ventilating the interior space, said at least one ventilation hole being disposed between two parallel forward edges of the top and bottom layer, several traction lines, a first end of which is fastened...
 
 9. (000) (WO 2008/031446) STEERING UNIT FOR FREE FLYING, CONFINED WING ELEMENT 20.03.2008 B63B 35/79 SKYSAILS GmbH & Co. KG
  The invention relates to a steering unit for a wind propulsion system, the steering unit comprising a first fixed attachment means (35) for securing a first end of a tractive cable (43) the second end of which is secured to a device or a vehicle to which a tractive force shall be transferred, a second attachment means (31a, 31b, 36a, 36b, 33, 34) for attaching a number of tractive lines (40a, 40b, 41a, 41b), the second end of which being secured to an aerodynamic wing element (10), a mechanical support frame (100, 110) connecting the first attachment means to the second attachment means for transferring a tractive force. The invention aims at providing such a steering unit with improved design for better manoeuvrability and stability. Accor...
 
 10. (000) (WO 2007/112993) WIND POWER PLANT COMPRISING A STEERABLE KITE 11.10.2007 F03D 9/00 SKYSAILS GMBH & CO. KG
  The invention relates to a device for converting wind energy to mechanical energy. Said device comprises a wind-impacted element connected to a base station via a traction rope, a traction rope reservoir, arranged on the base station and adapted to receive a section of the traction rope, a control device adapted to cyclically veer the traction rope from the traction rope reservoir and haul it, an energy converter, adapted to convert energy from the wind power transmitted by the wind-impacted element via the traction rope and the movement of the section of the traction rope veered from the traction rope reservoir to an electrical, thermodynamical or mechanical form of energy, a steering device adapted to generate a steering movement by a fir...
 
 11. (000) (WO 2009/080098) AERODYNAMIC WIND PROPULSION DEVICE HAVING ACTIVE AND PASSIVE STEERING LINES AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING OF SUCH A DEVICE 02.07.2009 B63B 35/79 SKYSAILS GMBH & CO. KG
  The invention relates to an aerodynamic wind propulsion device, particularly for watercrafts, comprising an aerodynamic wing being connected to a steering unit located below the aerodynamic wing via a plurality of tractive lines (105a, 105b, 106a, 106b, 205 a,b), at least one pair of two active steering lines being connected to the aerodynamic wing at two points in distance and being coupled to a drive unit at the steering unit, a tractive cable, a first end of the tractive cable being connected at the steering unit (100) to at least two of the tractive lines and a second end of the tractive cable (107) being connected to a base platform, the aerodynamic wing having an aerodynamic profile which generates an uplift force, a pair of two passi...
 
 12. (000) (WO 2009/143901) KITE TYPE SAIL WITH IMPROVED LINE ATTACHMENT 03.12.2009 B63H 9/06 SKYSAILS GMBH & CO. KG
  The invention relates to an aerodynamic wing, comprising an upper deck, wherein a plurality of ribs are connected to the upper deck, said ribs lying in a plane parallel to the direction of the vertical lifting force and the direction of the wind flow; the aerodynamic wing being coupled to a base platform arranged below the wing in service via a plurality of fastening lines, whereby the fastening lines are secured to the ribs of the wing, at least two fastening lines are secured to one rib at two line attachment points arranged at a distance from each other in the longitudinal direction; wherein the at least two line attachment points are connected to each other by a reinforcing load transfer line extending from the line attachment point of ...
 
 13. (000) (WO 2009/026939) AERODYNAMIC WIND PROPULSION DEVICE AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING 05.03.2009 B63H 9/06 SKYSAILS GMBH & CO. KG
  The invention relates to an aerodynamic wind propulsion device, particularly for watercrafts, comprising an aerodynamic wing being connected to a steering unit a tractive cable, wherein a first end of the tractive cable being connected to the steering unit and a second end of the tractive cable being connected to a base platform, a guiding line having a first end connected to the aerodynamic wing or to the steering unit, a pole being connected to the base platform. According to the invention, an aerodynamic wind propulsion device as mentioned above is pro¬ vided, characterized in that a second end of the guiding line is connected to the base platform during and between starting and landing manoeuvres wherein the guiding line is guided thro...
 
 14. (000) (WO 2009/071105) AERODYNAMIC WIND PROPULSION DEVICE AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING 11.06.2009 B63B 35/79 SKYSAILS GMBH & CO. KG
  The invention relates to an aerodynamic wind propulsion device, particularly for watercraft, comprising an aerodynamic wing being connected to a steering unit located below the aerodynamic wing and coupled to the aerodynamic wing via a plurality of lines, particularly steering lines and/or fixing lines, a tractive cable, wherein a first end of the tractive cable is connected to the steering unit and a second end of the tractive cable is connected to a base platform, the aerodynamic wing having an aerodynamic profile which generates a lifting force in the direction of the traction cable when the air stream direction is about perpendicular to the tractive cable, a plurality of reefing lines located across the aerodynamic wing for increasing a...
 
     

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1457 From: dave santos Date: 4/23/2010
Subject: Re: SkySails not advancing

I remember behind-the-scenes KiteShip frustration over SkySail's rampant kite patent trolling. There are hardly any inventive leaps in their bloated portfolio of junk patents. If only they had rested on their admirable engineering. It was very disappointing how SkySails promptly got into military cargo contracts. No friendly FairIP/CoopIP license for them. Ignore these frivolous claims or beat them in court by showing prior art. We have good work-arounds for any particular detail proven inventive in coming patent wars.
 
For counter-views of greedy IP culture see link & excerpt below-
 
msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/docs/2003-08-20_washpost_wipo_conference.pdf
 
================================

NGOS, SCIENTISTS AND ACADEMICS CALL FOR MAJOR REFORM
OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SYSTEM

Report by Martin Khor (TWN) of the Seminar on the Future of WIPO
(held in Geneva 13-14 September 2004).




The system of patents, copyright and other intellectual property rights are
coming under public attack, including from famous scientists and well known
law professors, who say that this system has gone too far in benefiting a
few people at the expense of the majority.



The critics are concerned and even angry that patents and copyright are
given (mainly to companies in developed countries) too freely and on terms
that unfairly penalize consumers, researchers and small producers.



The wide range of criticisms emerged at a conference on the Future of the
World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) organized by the
Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue earlier this month in Geneva.



Among the problems raised were that the IPR system is hampering the free
flow of information, raising the cost of computer software, hampering
scientists from advancing research, reducing the public's access to
information and raising the cost of medicines.



Among the participants were Sir John Sulston, Nobel Prize winner and leader
of the Cambridge-based scientific team that uncovered the human genome,
Richard Stallman , a pioneer of the free software movement (which led among
other things to the Linux operating system), and many academic professors
specializing in IPR law.



Sulston expressed concern that databases containing scientific information
are increasingly placed under copyright, making it difficult and costly for
researchers to have access, and thus impeding research.



He advocates that scientific data be placed in public databases which
researchers can freely use.  When he completed his work on mapping the human
genome, Suston's team quickly published the results in a scientific journal,
making it available to all.



"We put the details on a public database so everyone can have access and do
their own research," he said.



He spoke against the present practice of patenting of genes, which is an
buse of the patent system as the gene sequences are discoveries and not
inventions. He called the attempt by European governments to tighten
copyright on databases as "absolutely retrogade."



"We need ways to tame the market, and conduct research in ways that are not
puely market driven," he said.  "We need to restore trust, because I am
afraid the human race will not survive if we don't restore trust between the
scientists and science."



Stallman, who is president of the Free Software Foundation, said that IPRs
were a restriction on the public's access to information and essential
goods, and should not be termed as "rights".



"Patents granted for software only benefit very few, who are given the
chance to sue, whilst the rest are threatened with potential suits," he
said.  "There are  negative effects for software developers and computer
users."



Librarians, scholars and students are also worried that higher copyright
regulations are preventing access to information.



Jukka Liedes of the Finland Education Ministry, who is in charge of the
country's library system and access to information policy, said that in the
past it was considered that "the less there was IP or copyright, the
better."



However, at present consumers are constrained by copyright terms and access
to information has become a concern, he said.  The copyright system has
effects on cultural diversity, cultural expressions and on the promotion of
creativity.



For Volker Grassmuch of Humboldt University in Berlin, the digital
revolution (sparked by the personal computer and the internet) had made
information, editing and copying available to many.



However, there was now a "digital counter-revolution,"  through restrictions
placed on computer users, for instance on what they are allowed to download.
Moreover, he said,m copyright law mainly benefits not the authors or
musicians but the major industry owners.  The consumers and small producers
pay the price.



Several speakers stressed that they were not against intellectual property
per se, but that there should be a balance between the monopoly privileges
given to the patent or copyright holders, and the rights and welfare of the
public.



Their concern was that the balance had tilted very much in favour of the IPR
holders, which are able to jack up prices of their products, affecting
consumers' access, whilst also preventing other producers from competing
with them.



Dr. R. Sothi, director of Consumers' International's Asian office (based in
Kuala Lumpur) said a study of copyright laws in five Asian countries had
shown that the IP system is making educational materials inaccessible to the
poor as it raised the cost and prevented copying.   A one-size-fits-all
system is unsuitable to treat  countries at different stages of development.



The health organization, Medicin Sans Frontier, showed data on how medicines
for AIDS patients had been maintained at high levels because of patents.  It
also exposed the fact that 97% of patents worldwide are held in the
developed countries, whilst 80% of patents in the developing countries also
belong to residents of the rich countries.  Thus those who benefit from the
IP system are overwhelmingly from the developed countries.



The patent system in the United States is being distorted  by recent
practices, according to several American academics.  Brian Kahin of the
University of Michigan said the standards for granting patents had been
lowered, so many more patents are being granted.



He added that the range of products for which patents are granted has also
expanded to include, for example, life forms, software and business
methods.As a result, many patents that are given are of questionable
validity.



The seminar participants were worried that the US model, which is unsuitable
even for Americans, is now being exported to the developing countries, where
it is even more inappropriate and will cause more harm.



They were referring firstly to the agreement on intellectual property in the
World Trade Organisation, and secondly to the attempts by the developed
countries to create new treaties in WIPO (such as the substantive patent law
treaty and the broadcasters' rights treaty) that would "harmonise" the
developing countries' IPR laws with the laws of the US and other developed
countries.



"This harmonization attempt is immoral and the last insulot to developing
countries," said Dr Graham Dutfield of Queen Mary's University in Britain.
"Japan would not have developed if it had these IPR laws, and the big
companies of Europe could not have taken off if they were disallowed from
copying technology.



"In the past the IP system allowed countries to catch up as it
differentiated among countries, but now the harmonization process will block
developing countries from catching up."



Well-known American academic Prof. Jerome Reichmann said that the proposed
new WIPO treaties "would transmit a dysfunctional US system of intellectual
property to the rest of the world. It is utterly unfeasible to do that, and
it is completely wrong."



"Why should the developing countries participate in a standard setting
exercise which would be bad for them and also bad for the US and EU," he
added. "How can any good come out of it and why should the developing
countrues accept it?"    He called for a stop to such "harmonization"
attempts, and this was supported by other participants.



The seminar also discussed many ideas for reforming WIPO so that it would
not, as now, only promote IPRs but be able to consider IPRs within the
broader context of development.  A declaration on the future of WIPO to that
effect is under preparation.


--

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1458 From: dave santos Date: 4/25/2010
Subject: Japanese/Mexican Consortium Develops Mini-AWECS
JoeF proposed mini-AWE as a vital application scale. Allister complained that membrane wingmills don't fire with steady precision. DaveL wished for an AWECS to show 700hrs of reliable "fly & forget" performance. AWE development can be hard work & i am lazy.
 
It took Japanese help to meet these concerns. Pending a phone-call to develop gigawatt scale AWE, the latest KiteLab prototype is a Mini-AWECS based on a Seiko Kinetic Drive (self-winding) Chronometer provided by my brother. It converts wildly chaotic motion into well regulated work. Its visible eccentric rotor is a pendulum ratcheted to drive a tiny generator, which charges a lithium battery, that in turn powers a quartz watch movement. Its a miniature model for future AWE ground-stations into megawatt scale.
 
The clever added principle of AWECS operation is the classic chaos demo of the Double Pendulum, but run backwards. The watch was mounted as the bob on a tunable wood pendulum, elastic damped & driven by a small membrane wing-mill or flapping kite. The triple chaos of double pendulum, windfield, & kite are transformed into precision electromechanical output. (Allister, its damn close to Bond's Oyster Perpetual). This is an old idea on this forum but the more one studies this process the more one marvels at its relative efficiency across a wide bandwidth.
 
A variety of autonomous kite inputs work well. The UltraKite (TM) technical pocket sled system with a tiny wing-mill is good for fast pulses. Its a Morse sled that self-relaunches. A dimestore Gayla flapping-wing hawk kite gives slower longer strokes, but wants a chicken-stick for self-relaunch. Tying a wingmill off a tree branch & running the line indoors models TEWP (Terrain Enabled Wind Power) & aux power into hybrid plants. Everything works nicely. In fact, there is far more power available than the watch function needs (imagine winding a watch for days at a time). Steampunk hint- an automatic watch mainsprings lets the spring slip in its barrel as a clutch, if over-wound.
 
Thank Japanese excellence & KiteLab for the most robust & smallest complete electro-AWECS yet. Its weather-proof & might run a lifetime with minor attention. The kinetic drive is standard COTS costing only a few dollars in bulk. The Chinese make particularly inexpensive variants. Many high tech applications run just fine on the power required for a watch. Watches actually consume considerable power, especially with "complications", as they call added features like moon phase & tide. Given the current primitive state of the art, KiteLab can actually rack up new AWE records for endurance, regulated output, high altitude, etc. with but a dinky set-up.
 
Here is a detail shot-
 
 
This is a demo with the wing-mill short-lined for the camera, which tuned it a bit fast-
 
 
KiteLab Ilwaco
 
FairIP/CoopIP
 
 

 
 
 

Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1459 From: Pierre BENHAIEM Date: 4/26/2010
Subject: Re: SkySails not advancing
The patents of SkySails are drafted well:generally no "X",no "Y",only "A" on search reports:claims are detailed,precise and not extensive.The writing of patents at least is as important as the real novelty.However the novelty of SkySails is existing and proceeds of the effectiveness of the whole technological realization. 

Pierre B
Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1460 From: dave santos Date: 4/26/2010
Subject: Re: SkySails not advancing
Pierre,
 
The previous post was indirectly referencing general comments Dave Culp has made on & off this list about old SkySails patent claims, which seemed to intend the patenting of even kitesailing itself. Many of the later/updated claims are just engineering details, but there are also broad claims for obvious & well known reelgen & piston AWECS. SkySails is the most prolific AWE patent filer so far, but they don't have a proportionate share of brains. SkySails also nearly caused a mid-air collision with an aircraft last year by flying its ship-kite too close to a cloud base in shared airspace.
 
Shareholder greed is the presumed motivation for a corporation to try to monopolize AWE IP. Let any company correct the record otherwise. AWE should be a gift to the world, not just European & Californian elites. I use the "patent trolling" charge in the widest sense, the claiming of everything possible by practitioners, not just patent sitters. Patent thicket & minefield patents are related concepts. Everyone should proceed to develop the art regardless of trolls, who will be resisted on ethical & legal grounds at every step. Public boycott might be an effective counter-strategy to help AWE go "open" until released IP pools evolve.
 
daveS
 
 
 


Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1461 From: Pierre BENHAIEM Date: 4/27/2010
Subject: Re: SkySails not advancing
Attachments :

    DaveS,

    What I want to tell is the good experience for writing of patents from SkySails.
    You bring an important point by writing:"SkySails also nearly caused a mid-air collision with an aircraft last year by flying its ship-kite too close to a cloud base in shared airspace."I join a document on French aerial rules for photo with an aerostat:forbidden above 150 m,signal above 50 m.SkySails' kite is flying around and above 150 m.According to KiteGen a forbidden zone is needed into the aerial non mobile AWECS zone.For SkySails it would be very difficult if it is considered that the forbidden zone would be the entire travel zone:perhaps a new problem is existing for huge flight  travels at ship speed (for a very long time).So the problem can be the same that for a non mobile AWECS but with an extensive zone.

    What do you think about possible SkySails problems with aerial rules and the way to resolve them?


    Pierre B  


      @@attachment@@
    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1462 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/27/2010
    Subject: Communicating Collision Courses

    Pierre,

    Kite system smartness reads traffic for hazardous collision courses; system responds to put out signals on select frequencies to warn oncoming traffic?

    OCAS®      Obstacle Collision Avoidance System®  
    http://www.ocasinc.com/

    The OCAS®   is off until proximity threshold is reached; then communication begins; the system goes off when hazardous approaches of aircraft cease.

    While off, very little energy is being expended in signalling.

    Consider tethers that have surface illumination, perhaps smartly changing its colors in peristaltic rhythms.  Yes, 50 m navigation markers.  But more: Signals to open receiving frequencies that give full description of the positions and vectors of the AWECS.  

    No need to reserve the full potential space. 

    JoeF


     

    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1463 From: Doug Date: 4/27/2010
    Subject: Re: SkySails not advancing
    I've noticed this company a few times in passing.
    They seem to at least have some real business activity.
    I guess the overall economics will need to emerge over time:
    Can the savings in fuel overcome delays during deployment, downtime for retrieval etc., extra personnel and training, the cost of the system itself, and its maintenance/longevity costs, and liability issues? It looks to me like if we ran totally out of oil, we'd be in a more advanced era of sailing ships this time around. Since I saw my first spinnaker, I've wondered why more sails weren't kites.
    maboomba.

    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1464 From: Pierre BENHAIEM Date: 4/27/2010
    Subject: Re: Communicating Collision Courses
    Joe,

    Thank you for your very interesting post and the link on "Audio Visual Warning System".

    Pierre B



    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1465 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/27/2010
    Subject: Drachen Foundation's April 10, 2010, Discourse

    Drachen Foundation's April 10, 2010, Discourse

    Ahh!  Some AWE history and other gems in 54 pages 

    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1466 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/28/2010
    Subject: Potential online Links

    In our group tools is a link on the left:

    Links

    inviting each of us to enrich our connection with resources.

    E.g., recently some 70 links have just been posted.

    One of them

    http://tinyurl.com/ThevenotLIFTelectricflight

    What if each of us placed one link per month for items that affect the development of airborne wind energy?

    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1467 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/28/2010
    Subject: Q1 2010 Joby Energy Quarterly, inaugural issue
    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1468 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/28/2010
    Subject: Airborne Wind Energy Consortium AWEC
    Airborne Wind Energy Consortium AWEC

    is a growing entity dealing with

    Airborne Wind Energy Conversion Systems AWECS.
    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1469 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/28/2010
    Subject: PM direct-direct brushless motor development
    Are you yet using rectangular cross-section wire for the coiling?
    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1470 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/28/2010
    Subject: AWE Conference 2010

    http://naccenter.arc.nasa.gov/

    http://www.awec2010.com

    Sponsorship and related visibility opportunities exist.

    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1471 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/28/2010
    Subject: JoeBen Bevirt interviewed by Clean Skies News
    Video  of interview at ARPA-E Summit in 2010.
    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1472 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/28/2010
    Subject: JoeBen Bevirt spoke on April 15, 2010

    Transforming energy and transportation: Airborne wind turbines and personal electric aircraft  (click for video talk)  
    PARC Forum

    15 April 2010
    4:00pm - 5:00pm
    George E. Pake Auditorium, PARC

    Group: AirborneWindEnergy Message: 1473 From: Joe Faust Date: 4/28/2010
    Subject: Re: Airborne Wind Energy Consortium AWEC

    http://www.aweconsortium.org/

    AWEC  Airborne Wind Energy Consortium

    Four members to start.

    Join opportunity.