Yes, This Power Plant Can Actually Fly
- Posted on October 8, 2011 at 7:46pm by
Liz Klimas
- Print »
- Email »
One of the biggest problems with generating power from wind is the fact that breezes come and go. They vary in force and reliability, making wind a subsequently unreliable source of energy.
But engineers at Makani Power knew that wind was relatively strong and constant a quarter mile up, decided to bypass traditional, anchored wind turbines and built one that could fly.
This power plant fly:
According to Makani Power’s website, this is “the first kind to demonstrate both power generation and the autonomous flight modes needed for launching, landing and crosswind flight.” The craft — Wing 7 — weighs 130 pounds with a wingspan of Wing 7 has a wing span of 8 meters with a rated power of 20 kilowatts.
Wing 7 (Photo: Makani Power)
Popular Science has more on the technology:
Wing 7 takes off vertically with rotors up, rotates into horizontal flight and autonomously flies in swooping circles. Wing-mounted turbines generate electricity, transmitting it to the ground through the tether. A first-of-its-kind vertical tail wing allows the craft to transition through the various flight modes, [Corwin] Hardham says: “It’s a whole new take on aviation.” Eventually, fleets of autonomous, power-producing craft may be tethered to land or to buoys at sea.
With funding from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) — as well as from venture capitalists such as Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin — Makani plans to develop a 1-megawatt unit by 2013 that can fly above 1,800 feet, with hopes of taking it to market two years later.
This graph shows the flight path of the wing from launch to transition and into circular flight. Once in circular flight, the path is repeatable, demonstrating the effectiveness of Makani’s controller in minimizing the effect of gusts and changes in wind direction. (Image: Makani Power)
The Wing 7 Program is an 18 month program and this flight marks the program’s third milestone. Makani will later demonstrate launching and landing on a perch and a full power curve that complies with the International Electrotechnical Commission’s standards.
[h/t Gizmodo]
Popular Stories
Paper Details Obama Admin’s Alleged Secret Note Sent to Iran: If Israel Attacks, We Won’t Get Involved 595 Comments
This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 420 Comments
‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 415 Comments
President Obama Issues Major ‘Green Energy’ Executive Order 390 Comments
Roseanne Barr: Most Billionaires ‘Violent Pedophiles’ & ‘Heartless’ Cocaine Addicts 378 Comments
Faith
Arab-Muslim Character to Join DC Comics‘ ’Green Lantern’ Series Read More- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 420 Comments
Pakistani Muslim Cleric Accused of Framing Disabled Christian Girl in Koran-Burning Case Read More- ‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 415 Comments
Meet the Controversial German Imam Accused of Brutally Beating His Wife & Pushing Sharia Law Read More
Business
- President Obama Issues Major ‘Green Energy’ Executive Order 390 Comments
- Germany’s Upcoming Court Ruling Will be Huge for the EU Read More
Ford Looks to Beat Toyota for Best-Selling Car in 2012 With This Model 151 Comments
Bernanke & QE3: Here’s What You Need to Know 100 Comments- ‘Extortion’: Why Did the Labor Department ‘Drop the Hammer’ on Oregon Farmers? 303 Comments
Technology
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 420 Comments
‘TaserDrone’: Hackers Weaponize Quadcopter With Actual ‘Shocking’ Technology Read More
Ever Heard of the Wild ‘Burning Man’ Festival in the Middle of the Nev. Desert? Here’s Your Primer Read More
Stanford Develops Technology ‘Better Than Steroids’ for Athlete Recovery Read More
Have You Pretended to Know What ‘the Cloud’ Is? You’re Not Alone Read More
Submitting your tip... please wait!
Comments (75)
idarusskie
Posted on October 9, 2011 at 12:31amThat’s fine but we need tera watts to replace fossil fuel.
Report Post »Christhefarmer
Posted on October 9, 2011 at 1:12amQuick someone occupy that field before those people make any money and become an evil big corporation.
Report Post »Chuck Stein
Posted on October 9, 2011 at 3:27amYup, and for those terawatts, we could use thorium. Cheap, clean & safe. We have had the technology since the 1960s. Check out this website:
Report Post »http://energyfromthorium.com/
V-MAN MACE
Posted on October 9, 2011 at 10:28amNope.
Simple energy can be generated with a few tons of copper coil, a large magnet, a bridge rectifier and a few transistors.
The significant up front cost is the copper coil and magnet, but there’s gonna be plenty of copper coil when the power companies shut off the electricity… on purpose….
Report Post »tomloy
Posted on October 9, 2011 at 12:39pmActually we need room temperature superconductors to enable us to store energy.
Report Post »NukeHaze
Posted on October 9, 2011 at 1:08pmDon’t let any t.a.r.p. money still sitting around go to this shovel ready job, either. It would ruin a perfectly good business venture. They would probably be forced to take like some of the banks now being villified were. Set up.
Report Post »Salamander
Posted on October 9, 2011 at 3:26pmI wonder how heavy the power cable will be so that all that power can be brought to a locatoin where it can be used?
Report Post »GQQSER
Posted on October 9, 2011 at 9:53pmThe size of the cable is relative to the current going through it. Generally speaking, the higher the voltage, the lower the current. This is why your cars spark plug cables can be so small, even though there is 25,000 – 30,000 volts going through them in order to “spark” across the gap on the spark plug.
Report Post »Squ33
Posted on October 10, 2011 at 5:01pmHere is the problem: Economy and Feasibility of Scale. Lets say they want to replace a modern coal-fired power plant. They usually produce about 1,000 to 1500 Megawatts. Scaling up this prototype (20 kW to 1 MW) is a factor of 50. Which means that it would need a wingspan of about 400 meters and would sweep out a circle of about 4.6 km (or 3 mi). So now, to replace 1 coal-fired power plant, multiply this by 1,000 units and then normal windmills start looking a lot better.
Report Post »Czar Kasim
Posted on October 9, 2011 at 12:06amWonder if they could be tethered to politicians, with all their hot air, we might get gigawatts.
Report Post »ThankBabyJesus
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 11:44pmStuff like this is so cool and drives with genuine passion to meet results. Government does not need a hand in on this, and if you are an investor be more generous to things like this, it all comes back in powerful ways.
Report Post »Donald727
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 11:27pmI think using waves to drive pumps is a better way to generate power.
Report Post »SERUM
Posted on October 9, 2011 at 1:06amIf we need to tether these generators, shouldn’t we be looking at more of a kite design?
Report Post »svedka
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 11:10pmAnyone seriously interested in learning about a new way to really harvest windpower without breaking the bank and with a reasonable expectation of profit should research Airgenesis.com.
Report Post »superwhuffo
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 11:10pmPLEASE…I just want to see this thing make a landing.
Report Post »superwhuffo
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 11:09pmI think this is pretty cool…but I would like to have seen it make a landing.
Report Post »1casawizard
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 11:05pmThis don’t look good. The simpler the better. Let private dollars fund this. Please make this government funding mess smaller.
Report Post »ZaphodsPlanet
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 10:40pmI say they should make it out of gold since Google is funding it. And as most ******** do…. sometimes thinking too far “outside the box” will send you off the end of a cliff. The fatigue of materials will be unreal. Plus… do you know how many windmills might be taken out of a 1 megawatt version of this breaks it’s tether and is set loose? What about weight? If scaling it up to 1 MW (megawatt) follows a 1:1 ratio…. then the 1MW version will weigh over 6,000 lbs. So think about it as probably something like tying a couple small Cessna’s to the end of a rope. A 2x Cessna kite. And here’s a science lesson for anyone who may not know. A motor and a generator are essentially the same thing. Push electricity through a motor and you get a rotation….. take another source of movement like wind or water …. and use that to rotate the motor …. then power now comes out of the same motor. It’s an electron pump.
I think it’s total BS that our tax dollars are going towards this stupid a$$ idea, but I’ve got not problems if Google wants to dump their last red cent into the lunacy.
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 10:38pmkeep innovating …one in a thousand work. this is what America is all about. just do it with private funding ..OK?
Report Post »Slowman101
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 10:04pmInteresting.
Report Post »Sirfoldallot
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 9:37pmWe should reseach but to think every new idea is it , WTH !
Report Post »Thevoice
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 9:30pmRight ..And the first storm that comes along ..whoops ..Well we didn’t see that coming..Or ice storm or snow storm..Whoops didn’t see that coming… Please ..enough already…
Report Post »Chasvs391
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 9:19pmHow much of our money is being wasted on this kind of ********?
Report Post »donttemptme
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 9:13pmwhat ever happened to blimps?
Report Post »they are fairly stationary and don’t need to land and can adjust for altitude when need be. low maintenance and no need for wires, use microwave .
Howyinthehills
Posted on October 9, 2011 at 1:18amWhy use microwaves on a blimp? It is already tethered on a cable. One problem is, if a cloud goes by, there might be a considerable electric discharge to the ground:>) Same for the flying machine. I suppose migrating birds and wayward bats and the occasional stray aeroplane might collide with the tether. It could be better than them getting microwaved. On the issue of DARPA involvement, remember they gave us the internet, and this thing might have military application. Envision future wall street protestors charging their electronics from these gizmos.
Report Post »Gary S
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 9:02pmA solution looking for a problem.
Report Post »paperpushermj
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 9:01pmQuick someone in Washington give these Guys $500,000,000
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 8:54pmReminds me of something I saw in popular science magazine years ago:
http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2005-11/windmills-sky
Report Post »TXPilot
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 9:04pmSounds like a good idea, until you consider that owning one will not only make your lightbulbs the jurisdiction of the EPA, but the FAA too…..They would probably just put a “no-fly” zone over the top of my house, so I couldn’t generate the power to make my illicit 100watt lightbulbs work……
Report Post »chazman
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 9:12pm… I would use it to electrocute some of my neighbors … the ones without manners …
Report Post »antiprogressive
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 8:45pmI like new ideas.
Nothing like a good mad scientist to pull things from outside the box.
Better than standing in line and repeating what everyone else already does.
It may have “bird” issues but so do all other Tower Turbines. An achor at 3x the max tension should keep it from breaking and flying away. I’m sure at THIS point it is intended for nonresidential areas only anyway. Same if out at sea.
Bottom line it‘s testing out air’s ability at 1/4 mile.
Could that lead to TALLER towers?
And why aren’t we putting turbines on all existing tall buildings?
It may not be perfect but at least the “owners” aren’t protesting on
Wall Street whining about what no one GIVES them.
Kudos for ANY effort that has never been tried…
Report Post »dnewton
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 11:05pmThey make more money selling space to cell phone companies .
Report Post »kenXIII
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 8:37pmwould be good as a drone that you leave up for 6-12 months. It would be better for surveillance more so than an attack type
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 8:59pmborder patrol!
Report Post »hillbilly patriot
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 8:25pmI think they were thinking a little too far outside the box. While the basic idea has merit, it would be impossible to use in the real world. It should be nicknamed ‘bird killer’
Report Post »Wilkins
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 10:55pmBird strike would be reduced at the altitude this would operate at. It takes energy to get to 1/4 mile up, energy most birds won‘t use unless it’s useful, as sometimes in migration or for some predatory species perhaps. Also this is still an early stage of development. Concievably this could be developed to operate higher in the atmosphere. Aircraft could be controlled outside the operating parameters. It‘s an interesting concept that’s been around for a while, maybe it’s time is coming.
Report Post »Cat
Posted on October 9, 2011 at 4:45pmEagles, condors and some hawks can fly that high, as well as some turkey vultures.
Report Post »That means these devices will wreak havoc on America’s mascot, the fastest bird, the oldest bird and nature’s waste consumers.
SFALLC
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 8:20pmWires, Wires everywhere for planes to fly into, and lets not forget about the high maintenance costs, potential for failures, what if the dam thing crashes into a residential area.
http://flagrantquoque.tumblr.com/
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 8:57pmWe already have permanent, tethered balloons that aircraft must avoid.
Several in Florida that I recall. I think I read they are used for surveillance of Cuba.
Giant balloons on cables that are a couple miles long or something.
So, that part isn’t such a big deal.
Report Post »Eff the Poor
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 8:14pmThis is one of the effing stupidest things I’ve ever heard of…People really spent money developing this?? OMG!!
Report Post »kenXIII
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 8:34pmthis would make for a good long term flying drone
Report Post »hkyfan36
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 8:06pmHow many birds does it kill? What happens when it hits a bird? Where are the bird activist? Who really cares about birds any way? Can you tether this to you electric car?
Report Post »Drill baby Drill!!!!!!!
TomFerrari
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 9:00pmYes! DRILL !
Report Post »Dougral Supports Israel
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 7:54pmWhat does the power cost per kilowatt hour? What chance is there of a crash doing damage to persons or property? What affect would millions of tethered aircraft have on aviation? Add your questions here.
Report Post »piper60
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 8:13pmAll valid questions. Extreme cost seems to follow all these “green” energy plants. If and when they come up with one that does as well as coal, then I’ll pay attention.
Report Post »metalurgy
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 8:38pmHow you going to land all these things in time during a sudden storm?
Carnage rainging down from the skies.
The horror…
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 9:01pmWe already have permanent, tethered balloons that aircraft must avoid.
Several in Florida that I recall. I think I read they are used for surveillance of Cuba.
Giant balloons on cables that are a couple miles long or something.
So, that part isn’t such a big deal to me.
Report Post »Dougral Supports Israel
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 10:22pmConsider a hundred thousand or a million of these tethered aircraft. A few isn’t going to do the trick of generating significant power. Compare that with simple coal power and see how it stacks up.
Report Post »dnewton
Posted on October 8, 2011 at 11:03pmThe tether to the ground needs to be fairly large to prevent vaporization by a lightning strike. Maybe it needs a destructive charge on it so that if the tether is lost, the flying portion does not land intact on anybody’s house. Twenty kilowatts is a nice number but you buy electricity by the kilowatt-hour. Does that mean that after an hour, it produces 20 kilowatt-hours of electricity? If you figure ten cents per kilowatt hour, that would be $48 dollars per day in production income. Of course you would have additional expenses syncing up to the grid and somebody would have to eat the line losses to the customer. Our major power producer stopped buying electricity from producers at prices above the electric company’s cost to produce it. One of these might work on a single house but I doubt that I could dry cloths, heat water and run a microwave at the same time. This could be managed with a battery system that was constantly charged and able to convert DC to AC power. This step would consume about one-third of the power produced. That tether for the one megawatt version is how big and how much does it weigh?
Report Post »Prezzuhdint_Mohammad_Ovomit
Posted on October 9, 2011 at 4:06amFake!
Report Post »You can see the strings.