Cousin topics re: QM, Metamaterials, Kite Matter    |    Forum Index of Topics    | 3r   |  


Topic     Makani Power     https://makanipower.com/

New Yorker "Inherit the Wind" article    holds some historical gems.

>>  See furthering: MX2
==============================
15 Sep 2020 | 21:00 GMT
Exclusive: Airborne Wind Energy Company Closes Shop, Opens Patents
Former chief engineer of Makani speaks to Spectrum about energy kites and the future of AWE
By Mark Anderson
==============================
It appears that material assets will be up for auction at end of March and beginning of April:   https://svdisposition.com/auction-detail?id=276 Thirteen Years and closing without sufficient funds to continue
Send AWE notes and topic replies to editor@upperwindpower.com
Alameda Sun Community Newspaper's Makani Debriefing

MAKANI ENERGY LOST ITS GREEN
Thursday, October 29, 2020
Richard Bangert

“The accident underscored a feature of Makani’s technology that has led experts to question why [Makani founders] Brin and Page had so much faith in the concept,” stated Deign. “Out of all the possible ways to make an airborne wind engine, Makani’s was perhaps among the most complicated.”
Sept. 27, 2020, post by Dave Santos

Only ARPA-E is smart enough to give money to Google to embrace maximum public ineffectiveness.

All four M600s that ever flew crashed on average in 5.5hrs, and used more power than they generated.

What wonderful proof of aerospace scaling laws and KIS principles, for those who did not know already.

Worth every penny of the >300M invested. Onto multi-GW scale rag & string lattice AWES topologies.


Now its AWEurope getting the free insights, by Culture jamming their own media:

                                                         Click image for larger-clearer viewing: AWES SafetyZone for SLK example
Sept. 21, 2020, post by Dave Santos
Makani M600 Wing-Tips Collected by kPower for Public Exhibition

kPower Austin has acquired from its Hawai'ian Agent the wing-tips of what is reckoned to be Makani M600 SN4. These are intended to end up on permanent display at American Wind Power Museum and World Kite Museum, as part of their growing AWE collections. kPower has been donating historic AWE artifacts to these museums for over a decade.

IMAGEofWingTips Makani wing tips acquired by kPower
Makani M600 wing tips acquired by kPower
Sept. 23, 2020, post by Dave Santos
Analyzing Makani's Epic R&D Case     

Dear Matthew,

Re: your Tweet about intent to review Makani story in depth.

That's a very worthy project. The broader context is the entire Airborne Wind Energy (AWE) R&D field.

Joe Faust (Cc:ed) and I have followed Makani from start to finish. I was present at the founding period 
and know all the founders. We also follow all of AWE comprehensively, from historic roots to latest news.
Count on us for specialist insights and access to all domain knowledge. No question too hard or obscure.

Good Luck with your project, and the many fine lessons to discover. It really is a dramatic case deserving 
close study. Makani's disclosures are barely half of the story. AWE itself might become your natural 
scope of interest.

Best,

Dave Santos
kPower
Sept. 11, 2020, post by Dave Santos
Sweet "Dreaming" of an Energy Kite

What brave happy little souls-

"...the [M600] hardware would be put through the paces of simulated hover flight. This "motor HITL" was done in a test bay with the kite securely strapped to a large trailer...More than one engineer compared the test to the kite "dreaming." " (Makani Final Report)

All four M600s ever flown crashed.
Sept. 8, 2020, post by Dave Santos
Collecting Historic Airborne Wind Energy Platform ("Power Tower" and "Energy Airplane")
Click image to enlarge.

Dr. Peter Jacab
Chief Curator
SI Air & Space Museum

Dear Dr. Jakab,

In recent decades, progress in the pioneering aerospace/aeronautics field of Airborne Wind Energy (AWE) has reached Maxim/Langley/Wright-Bros TRLs. Long-term, mature AWE technology could revolutionize Renewable Energy, and power the World. 

GoogleX ran a 300M AWE R&D program (Makani) for over a decade, culminating in the largest eVTOL in history, rated at 600kW, with 8 motor/generators on a 30m WS, that generated Proof-of-Concept flight data, but not commercial viability. Last year GoogleX sold off the program last to Shell Energy, which has had several AWE Ventures in its AWE R&D portfolio, dating back 20 years. Shell mainly acquired Makani for IP, and the Experimental Hardware is redundant.

The unique artifacts are at-risk, currently scattered from Hawaii to Norway. There are two major components that work as an ensemble (see image bellow), the Power-Tower Base in Hawaii, and the Flight Platform. The Hawaii hardware, including a Tower, went up for auction and was bought near scrap value. Howard Teo (Cc:) is agent for the Hawaii buyer. There is a Power-Tower Buoy in Norway, less suited for land display. The Tower is welded steel with electromechanical components. Shell holds the surviving Flight platforms (one crashed), perhaps in California. The Flight Platform airframe is composites. It was all intended to endure in outdoor service for up to 20 years. There is still time to make sure nothing is lost. Key engineering personnel are available to direct moving and install from practice.

I work in AWE R&D, with longtime relation to Makani, and multiple Air & Space (and Boeing MoF) interactions over many years. I suggested to the Hawaii Auction Buyer some of the hardware is very historic and should be preserved. I explained SI normally does not purchase artifacts, but depends on philanthropic support. In this case, Google and Shell would likely want to help. The collection process as I know it usually starts with a written SI statement of Historical Significance/Interest to Collect, to activate Donors to cover costs. 

The Hawaii Party is willing to sell its Tower at a modest price, quickly, unable to hold the artifact in storage too long, reluctant to strip it for parts. Even by itself, the Tower is like a modern sculpture masterpiece, a "what is it?" wonder. Shell is the other key Party, likely very happy to provide an Energy Aircraft and cover costs. The two items could display as one, or in their working spatial relation short-tethered, perhaps even with the Tower outdoors, and the Aircraft indoors behind a glass wall, for permanent preservation.

We look for to your specific suggestions on how best to proceed. Air and Space is the first Museum contacted. If you do not think its a good acquisition for your institution, other placement referrals are welcome. These are major historic Aviation Artifacts in need of a good home. AWE is also a major new Category for Air & Space Collection and Exhibition leadership, and securing these historic AWE artifacts would be a blockbuster center-piece to such Museum work.

Best Regards,

Dave Santos CTO
kPower
============================

Mr. Santos
I have retired and stepped down as Chief Curator of NASM.  I have forwarded your note to the appropriate people at the museum.

Peter Jakab

July 2020:    Roland Schmehl posted at AWES.

We have just now released two important technical reports about Makani’s Wing7 and M600 to the public:

Jelle Wijnja: Aero-Elastic Analysis of a Large Airborne Wind Turbine. M.Sc. Thesis, Delft University of Technology, 27 Nov 2013.
http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:0d778339-a97e-423a-b3a8-64ab7a64417f 4

Thomas van Alsenoy: Sensitivity Analysis of Airborne Wind Turbine Design Variables – Using Trajectory Optimization. M.Sc. Thesis, Delft University of Technology, 22 May 2014.
http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:5a4b8f8d-6cea-4e75-ba11-8da3fe4457cc 5

Jelle and Thomas were two MSc students of TU Delft’s Faculty of Aerospace Engineering performing their graduation project with Makani in California. The two MSc theses detail the development status of the two prototypes, the smaller Wing7, with 4 onboard wind turbines, and the larger M600, with 8 onboard wind turbines, totaling 600 kW of electrical power.

Jelle’s research was about the aeroelastic behavior of the M600, including a detailed description of structural, aerodynamic and control properties of this largest AWE prototype to date. Several aeroelastic modes are investigated, including flutter, distinguishing different flight regimes. The theoretical analysis was performed with a modified version of the popular simulation code ASWING and complemented by wind tunnel measurements at TU Delft. The research formed the basis for the paper Aeroelastic Analysis of a Large Airborne Wind Turbine 1 that appeared in the Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics.

Thomas’ research was about the system design of Wing7. The research covers all system components, also the rotors used for hovering and energy harvesting. This prototype has also been described in Damon Vander Lind’s book chapter Analysis and Flight Test Validation of High Performance Airborne Wind Turbines 
Feb. 20, 2020, post by Dave Santos

Makani had intended to develop a 5MW version of its architecture (M5), hoping for a competitive unit-plant compared to HAWTs. Tallak can be certain that engineering scaling laws greatly prevented the M5 from development. Makani announced missed milestone after milestone during its 13yr run, due to well-understood aerospace challenges scaling up and automating aircraft.

Public measured comparison of Wing7 and M600 power curves would surely reveal severe square-cube scaling losses in efficiency, and that Makani likely will only share those power curves with Shell, who itself is under Google NDA, no doubt. The most experienced observers do know what happened. ~300M was plenty to prove informed doubts correct.

It seems very unlikely Shell let all Makani workers go, while intending to continue M600 development. It is time to spend money across all AWES architectures for systematic fly-off. Let the surviving M600 fleet be a part of that.

=====================
Ed adds:  The Shell Game ? 
https://9to5google.com/2017/08 /04/alphabet-x-clean-energy-mo onshots/
Feb. 19, 2020, post by Dave Santos
Google AWE Big Fail; who knew? "Right Stuff" aviation community, in 2009, on early AWES Forum.

Parties on heavily-censored New Forum seem not to have predicted Makani would fail, and are expressing shock and dismay. Aerospace and kite experts knew better, from the start (2007), and the failure was baked-in in 2009. Google has credibly shown to non-experts that safe reliable high-complexity AWE is decades premature, wildly dangerous and expensive, and will not scale well.

Low-complexity Open-AWE remains on-track to prevail at industrial scale on a ~2030 timescale, based on Critical Path and TRL metrics. Venture capitalist censorship of critical engineering perspectives still prevails in AWEurope conferences, and the new AWES Forum, but the field will only move upward, as losing ideas and ventures are relentlessly vetted.

=== Early AWE Forum Archives ===

Senior Boeing Engineer, Chris Carlin, chimes in with Dave Santos, on how Makani would never make it, just a day after they disclosed the losing M600 architecture in 2009. Open criticism as shared with dozens of aviation, kite, and aerospace pros. 

On Mon, 3/9/09, christopher carlin  wrote:
From: christopher carlin
Subject: Re: Makani's high-risk approach disclosed
To: santos
Date: Monday, March 9, 2009, 11:07 AM

Off hand I must agree. Why carry the generator and wiring up in the air when you don't need to. Minimizing weight and equipment aloft has to be a primary objective.

Regards,

Chris 
-----------------

On Mar 9, 2009, at 4:07 AM, dave santos wrote:
King of AWE (Airborne Wind Energy) hype, Makani Power is finally revealing its top-heavy technological approach to nonspecialized audiences while actively withholding key information about safety & reliabilty of its designs from the better informed AWE & aerospace community.
 
What are they hiding? Low MTBF, severe scaling limits, high flying weight, & nightmarish handling scenarios are just a start. Then what's up with "routine" test flying in Maui? Sweeeet, but surely not too smart or sustainable. But, hey, its Google dollars.
 
While poorly funded, its probable that the global open-source AWE folks have the better solutions & Google/Makani's deep-pocket VC hack gamble to go it alone, in secret, will prove mistaken. Lets hope open science wins by sheer brain power & nobler culture.
 
Stay tuned....
Feb. 19, 2020, post by Joe Faust
Google closes Makani
Teller said, some will "stay on for a few months to package up what they've learned so others can build on it."
Some headlines about the closure:

Google parent company Alphabet ends support for Makani kite-power project
Alphabet acquired Makani in 2013.

Alphabet takes the wind out of its Makani energy kites   

Makani and its energy kites are parting ways with Alphabet

Google parent drops kite-power pioneer Makani    

Shell mulls Makani energy-kite future as Google drops 'moonshot' project   

Alphabet Shutters Its Energy Kite Company, Makani    

Google parent company Alphabet ends support for Makani kite-power project    

Energy & Science
Google Shuts Down Its Moonshot Wind Energy Unit Makani    

"Alphabet Inc. is shutting down Makani"

Google's parent company is shutting down power-generating kite subsidiary Makani: 'The road to commercialization is longer and riskier than hoped'

Alphabet pulls support for Makani wind kites, Shell might continue development

Alphabet winds down energy kite division
Makani’s tech could be taken on by Shell

`Financial Times:   Alphabet shuts power kites moonshot project

Alphabet shuts down its power-generating kites project
Los Angeles Times

Makani's time as an “other bet” comes to an end | Hacker News

Alphabet cuts cord on power-generating kite business

Google parent withdraws support for kite power outfit
Re-News

Alphabet abandons Makani’s energy-making kites project
Inceptive Minds

Future of Airborne Wind Energy in Doubt as Google Parent Drops Makani
Green Tech Media

Airborne Wind Energy in Doubt as Google Parent Drops Makani
FocusTechnica

RIP Google Makani: Perhaps The Entire Airborne Wind Energy Space Will Finally Disappear      Michael Barnard

Alphabet, Google’s Parent Company, Axes its First “Moonshot” Company  



Some Videos:
==============
Corwin Hardham at Benson High School

==========================
Saul Griffith: High-altitude wind energy from kites!

=====================
Quick takes: Makani power

=====================
A Different Kind of Wind Power: Damon Vander Lind at TEDxEmbryRiddle

=========================
Makani: Innovating for climate solutions

=========================
Makani Crosswind Flight
======================
The Makani Airborne Wind Turbine

======================
Makani's first offshore energy kite flight - YouTube

======================
Makani Energy Kite

======================
Makani Energy Kite: A Smarter Wind Turbine

======================
Google X acquires Makani Power for kite-like airborne wind turbines

======================
4 hr 45 min
Makani energy kite test flight, spring 2019 (full flight)

=======================
Makani energy kite flight summary

=======================
All Flight Modes of the Makani AWT

=======================
1 hr 32 min
Makani energy kite first night flight 2019 (full flight)

=================
Makani’s first commercial-scale energy kite

=================
Makani Power, Autonomous Power Generation, July 8, 2011

=================
Career Spotlight: Kite Designer

==================
Airborne Wind Turbine Flight Demonstrations

==================
Makani's Flying Wind Turbines - Solid Conference 2015

==================
Google develops floating data centers propelled by windmill-like kites

==================
Google X acquires Makani Power for kite-like airborne wind turbines

===================
A Crazy Idea: Makani's Self-Flying Energy Kite    

===================
NCES 5.0: Corwin Hardham of Makani Power   

===================
The Energy Fixers: Windmills in the Sky    

===================
This video is an excerpt of Makani’s historic Floating Offshore Crosswind Flight (FCW-01) on August 8, 2019. The flight took place off the coast of Karmøy, Norway, and was the first offshore crosswind flight in the world.

This video shows the loss of M600 design kite serial number 5 (SN5) in hover after the offshore flight FCW-01. This event highlighted the vulnerability of the M600 design to marginal roll stability in hover.

In FCW-01, the autonomous flight controller lost control of the kite’s roll attitude, then the kite’s yaw attitude, and, consequently, lost the kite to the Atlantic Ocean. The kite had just transitioned from crosswind flight to hover mode. It was preparing for the tether reel-in operation. In this “PrepTransformGsDown” flight mode, the kite hovers to a position to hold the tether in place so the Ground Station can transform from “the anchoring the tether for crosswind” configuration to the “reeling” configuration. To reach this position, the kite lowers its altitude while simultaneously translating sideways. After 22 seconds, the kite begins to overcome the bridle moment and roll away from the tether. About 28 seconds into PrepTransformGsDown mode, the pilot took over control but could not successfully stabilize the kite.

To learn more about the root cause of this crash please see "Root Cause Analysis and Corrective Actions for FCW-01," included in The Energy Kite: Selected Results From the Design, Development and Testing of Makani’s Airborne Wind Turbines, Part III, and available at https://x.company/projects/makani

August 8th, 2019. Filmed by Viktor Andreas Olsen in Karmøy, Norway.

This video is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
License
Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed)

Bleeps:  "Ah F_____" "Stop everything"     Era change moment. Shell, what next?
Incomplete list of kites in the Makani 13-yr exploration, yet:  (anyone?)
  • First fabric kites
  • First rigid-wing kites
  • “Wing 7” 20kW prototype
  • M600   600kW prototype
  • Proposed:  MX2   

Explore:    A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z