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Kite Control Systems
Kite types, kite mooring, and kite applications result in a variety of kite control systems. Contemporary manufacturers, kite athletes, kite pilots, scientists, and engineers are expanding the possibilities. Kite control systems encompass a range of methods and technologies used for maneuvering and stabilizing kites in various applications. These systems have evolved from simple manual controls, to intricate automated and powered configurations, reflecting the spectrum of kite uses from recreational activities, to scientific research and energy generation. The development and refinement of these control systems have significantly expanded the capabilities and applications of kites, sometimes changing them from traditional leisure objects, into tools for modern-day purposes. High-altitude kite control systems, especially notable in record-setting flights, incorporate advanced mechanisms such as on-board angle-of-attack adjusters. These systems are designed to manage kite line tens ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
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Kite Types
Kites are tethered flying objects which fly by using aerodynamic lift, requiring wind (or towing) for generation of airflow over the lifting surfaces. Various types of kites exist, depending on features such as material, shape, use, or operating skills. Kites may fly in air, water, or other fluids such as gas and other liquid gaining lift through deflection of the supporting medium. Variations in design of tethering systems and lifting surfaces are regularly introduced, with lifting surfaces varying in stiffness from limp sheet material to fully solid material. Manufacture Kites may be built by the flier or by a dedicated kite manufacturer, which may be a member of the Kite Trade Association International (KTAI), which also includes kite retailers. Materials Kites have been made from the following materials: *Plastic – for example, a Styrofoam-only kite *Organic materials – such as plant leaves and grass *Paper *Textiles such as rip-stop nylon, nylon, or Dacron Wing c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
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Foil Kite
Foil kites are soft kites based on the design of the parafoil. They consist of a number of cells running fore to aft, some or all of which are open at the front to allow air to inflate the kite so it takes on an aerofoil section. Due to the amount of power that these kites can generate, they can be used for a variety of different activities including kitesurfing, kite landboarding, snowkiting, kite buggying, kite-energy systems or airborne wind energy, and recreational kiting. Foil kites are flown with various line set-ups that includes 2-, 3- and 4-line systems; 2-line systems consisting of rings, wrist bands or bar compared to depowerable 4-line systems using a bar or handles. (See also: kite control systems) In order to make them suitable for use on water some foils have limited air inlets in the centre of the leading edge, with valves to keep the air in and (hopefully) the water out. Internal holes in the cell sides allow the whole kite to inflate. These kites are natura ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
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Marine Propulsion
Marine propulsion is the mechanism or system used to generate thrust to move a watercraft through water. While paddles and sails are still used on some smaller boats, most modern ships are propelled by mechanical systems consisting of an electric motor or internal combustion engine driving a propeller, or less frequently, in pump-jets, an impeller. Marine engineering is the discipline concerned with the engineering design process of marine propulsion systems. Human-powered watercraft, Human-powered paddles and oars, and later, sails were the first forms of marine propulsion. Rowed galleys, some equipped with sail, played an important early role in early human seafaring and naval warfare, warfare. The first advanced mechanical means of marine propulsion was the marine steam engine, introduced in the early 19th century. During the 20th century it was replaced by two-stroke diesel engine, two-stroke or four-stroke diesel engines, outboard motors, and gas turbine engines on faster sh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
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SkySails
SkySails Group GmbH is a Hamburg-based company that sells kite rigs to propel cargo ships, large yachts and fishing vessels by wind energy as well as Airborne wind energy, airborne wind energy systems for electricity production from High-altitude wind energy, high-altitude winds. Business SkySails Group GmbH is a successor company to SkySails GmbH, which was founded in 2001 by Stephan Wrage and Thomas Meyer in Hamburg. The company, while technically successful at cutting shipping costs and carbon emissions, has faced economic difficulties.Skysails Captain John Konrad, Mariners Weather Log, April 2009, Volume 53, No. 1, National Weather Service [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
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Mast (sailing)
The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the median line of a ship or boat. Its purposes include carrying sails, spars, and derricks, giving necessary height to a navigation light, look-out position, signal yard, control position, radio aerial, or signal lamp. Large ships have several masts, with the size and configuration depending on the style of ship. Nearly all sailing masts are guyed. Until the mid-19th century, all vessels' masts were made of wood formed from a single or several pieces of timber which typically consisted of the trunk of a conifer tree. From the 16th century, vessels were often built of a size requiring masts taller and thicker than from single tree trunks. On these larger vessels, to achieve the required height, the masts were built from up to four sections (also called masts). From lowest to highest, these were called: lower, top, topgallant, and royal masts. Giving the lower section ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
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Sail
A sail is a tensile structure, which is made from fabric or other membrane materials, that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail-powered land vehicles. Sails may be made from a combination of woven materials—including canvas or polyester cloth, laminated membranes or bonded filaments, usually in a three- or four-sided shape. A sail provides propulsive force via a combination of lift and drag, depending on its angle of attack, its angle with respect to the apparent wind. Apparent wind is the air velocity experienced on the moving craft and is the combined effect of the true wind velocity with the velocity of the sailing craft. Angle of attack is often constrained by the sailing craft's orientation to the wind or point of sail. On points of sail where it is possible to align the leading edge of the sail with the apparent wind, the sail may act as an airfoil, generating propulsive force as air pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
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Kite Landboarding
Kite landboarding, also known as land kiteboarding or flyboarding, is based on the sport of kitesurfing, where a rider on a surf-style board is pulled over water by a kite. Kite landboarding involves the use of a mountain board or landboard, which is essentially an oversized skateboard with large pneumatic wheels and foot-straps. Kite landboarding is a growing sport, and there are several competitions. Kite landboarding is attracting growing publicity although it is not yet as popular or as well known as kitesurfing. Technique Typically, kite landboarding takes place in large open areas where the wind is constant and there are no obstructions such as trees or people. Large hard-packed sandy beaches are typical landboarding locations because of the large space available and wind conditions. The rider starts off by getting the kite into a neutral position overhead. Once strapped onto the board, the rider can orient the kite such that it pulls the rider across the ground. This is do ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
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Iceboating
An iceboat (occasionally spelled ice boat or traditionally called an ice yacht) is a recreational or competition sailing craft supported on metal runners for traveling over ice. One of the runners is steerable. Originally, such craft were boats with a support structure, riding on the runners and steered with a rear blade, as with a conventional rudder. As iceboats evolved, the structure became a frame with a seat or cockpit for the iceboat sailor, resting on runners. Steering was shifted to the front. Because of their low resistance to forward motion over ice, iceboats are capable of speeds exceeding . Because of their speed, iceboats are used both for recreation and for racing. Racing craft typically carry one person. A related activity, land sailing, employs sailing craft similar to iceboats, but riding on wheels instead of runners. History The history of iceboating began in Europe in areas where smooth ice was found in the bays of the Baltic Sea and the canals of the N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
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Snowkiting
Snowkiting or kite skiing is an outdoor winter sport where people use kite power to glide on snow or ice. The skier uses a kite to give them power over large jumps. The sport is similar to water-based kiteboarding, but with the footwear used in snowboarding or skiing. The principles of using the kite are the same, but in different terrain. In the early days of snowkiting, foil kites were the most common type; nowadays many kiteboarders use inflatable kites. However, since 2013, newly developed racing foil kites seem to dominate speed races and expedition races, like Red Bull Ragnarok (held on the Norwegian Hardangervidda plateau) and the Vake mini-expedition race (held at Norway's most northern Varanger peninsula). Snowkiting differs from other alpine sports in that it is possible for the snowkiter to travel uphill and downhill with any wind direction. Like Kitesurfing, kiteboarding, snowkiting can be very hazardous and should be learned and practiced with care. Snowkiting has be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
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Kite Buggy
A kite buggy is a light, purpose-built vehicle powered by a Power kite, traction kite (power kite). It is single-seated and has one steerable front wheel and two fixed rear wheels. The driver sits in the seat located in the middle of the vehicle and accelerates and slows down by applying steering manoeuvres in coordination with flying manoeuvres of the kite. This activity is called kite buggying. The speed achieved in kite buggies by skilled drivers can range up to around 110 km/h (70 mph), hence protective clothing, including a safety helmet, is commonly worn. The kite buggy was promulgated by George Pocock (inventor) in the UK in 1827 and kite buggies were available commercially in US and UK in the late 1970s. Peter Lynn is generally attributed with the modern popularization of buggies and kite buggying with his introduction of strong, lightweight, affordable buggies in the early 1990s. Kite buggying is similar to land yachting, windsurfing or even yachting, and there ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
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Kiteboating
Kiteboating, kite boating or kitesailing is the act of using a kite rig as a power source to propel a boat. Kiteboating is a type of surface water sport, but it also has transportation usesSkysails Captain John Konrad, Mariners Weather Log, April 2009, Volume 53, No. 1, Equipment Kiteboating uses different types of gear from kitesurfing. Kites attached to boats can be larger than kites attached to a surfer. For long voyages, the kite rig must be more autonomously controlled. Due to the lifting power of kites, they are often used with hydrofoils.[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
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Servomechanism
In mechanical and control engineering, a servomechanism (also called servo system, or simply servo) is a control system for the position and its time derivatives, such as velocity, of a mechanical system. It often includes a servomotor, and uses closed-loop control to reduce steady-state error and improve dynamic response. In closed-loop control, error-sensing negative feedback is used to correct the action of the mechanism. In displacement-controlled applications, it usually includes a built-in encoder or other position feedback mechanism to ensure the output is achieving the desired effect. Following a specified motion trajectory is called servoing, where "servo" is used as a verb. The ''servo'' prefix originates from the Latin word ''servus'' meaning slave. The term correctly applies only to systems where the feedback or error-correction signals help control mechanical position, speed, attitude or any other measurable variables. For example, an automotive power win ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |