Tether rotations
Initial forum post, see: M3414

Preamble teasing videos |

1. Around the mooring as a radial arm. (booms, stems, linear push-pull).
This may be incidental or a matter of high focus for energy production or performance of special tasks or both.

2. Around its own longitudinal axis. (twist, torque, adjusting from twist, adjusting  from tension).
This may be incidental or a matter of high focus for energy production or performance of special tasks or both.

Tether-veering by way of tether-segment rotation employing Magnus-effect to drive the veering left (or right) may be used for tether-set separation, for art, for array construction/flying, for festival meandering effects, etc.; this adds to macro tether tension while lowering inclination of near-mooring line; the technique can be used to veer left (or right) of a guarded land space while keeping upper wings flying centrally.

3. Reel-in-reel-out cycling. 
This may be incidental or a matter of high focus for energy production or performance of special tasks or both.

4. Around tether terminal pulleys in the loop or fan-belt mode.
This may be incidental or a matter of high focus for energy production or performance of special tasks or both.
Drawing22 

5. Session on-and-off cycling.
This may be incidental or a matter of high focus for energy production or performance of special tasks or both.

6. Cross-sectional size cycling (from temperature changes, from tension changes)
This may be incidental or a matter of high focus for energy production or performance of special tasks or both.

7. Electrical-charge condition of tether set cycling.
This may be incidental or a matter of high focus for energy production or performance of special tasks or both.

8. Maintenance change-out cycling.
This may be incidental or a matter of high focus for energy production or performance of special tasks or both.

9. Vogue cycling. Tether type and use will come in and out of focus or use. Some choices and combinations will cycle in and out of focus or use for various reasons; good design for target purpose may or may not drive actuation; art or open play might drive the choosing; exploration might bring in a cycle of use of a partcular tether combination. 

10. Tethers may cycle lengths by stretch-shrink actuated by say mechanical force, light, electrical reaction, moisture reacting, chemical triggering, etc. Cycling of the length of tether elements may have niche applications.

11. Color or illumination cycling for tether elements may be actuated in various ways to serve various purposes (communications, hazard warning, art, condition reporting, etc. )

12. Tether elements may rotate wholly or segmentally about centers of wave action in planes or in full 3-space. (standing wave nodes, anti-nodes, harmonics, etc.; longitudinal waves, etc. The frequencies and cycles about numerical quantities form another branch of cycling or rotation for tethers.)

13. Tethers (wholly or in part) may rotate in and out of a media ( e.g., in and out of water, in and out of air) during an operation session.

14. Tether availability may depend on cycles of economics, circumstance, budget, etc.  Rotate a certain tether material in a kite-energy farm according to supply cycles.

15. Wind rose tether-position rotations.

16. Compass rose tether-position rotations.

Types of tether rotations may occur singly or in combination with other rotations.

The count of combinations and niche applications of these rotations is substantial with subsequent opportunities for designers and products. Some arrangements will be more popular than others. Profit in the production and selling of energy from an AWECS or kite-energy system may be maximized in part by a certain use of tether rotations.

Missed tether rotations are invited to be described.
 
Examples and niche applications of each type of tether rotation (or combination of rotations) are invited.

Presentation of practical products employing one or more or combination of tether rotation are invited to be described and discussed.

Well describing the rotations in a particular specification is invited for the record, even if some of the description is absent from sales literature.

Neglect of knowing and respecting  the rotations occurring in a tether could possibly be part of a failure mode. Attention over tether rotations may play in a success story.

Happy tether rotating ...
JoeF