Publications related to Method for wind harvesting and wind rejection in flying drones

Lumped Drag Model Identification and Real-Time External Force Detection for Rotary-Wing Micro Aerial Vehicles

This work focuses on understanding and identifying the drag forces applied to a rotary-wing Micro Aerial Vehicle (MAV). We propose a lumped drag model that concisely describes the aerodynamical forces the MAV is subject to, with a minimal set of parameters ...

IEEE2024

Towards an improved understanding of wind turbine wakes in complex terrain

Arslan Salim Dar

In this thesis, we explored the effect of certain terrain-induced flow phenomena on the development of wind turbines sited in complex terrain. A combined experimental and analytical approach is used to study wind turbine wakes in different types of complex ...

EPFL2024

Power performance of a model floating wind turbine subjected to cyclic pitch motion: A wind tunnel study

Fernando Porté Agel, Guiyue Duan, Daniele Gattari

Wind tunnel experiments were performed with a miniature floating wind turbine model to study the effects of cyclic pitch motion on its power performance. The cyclic pitch motion was prescribed by two key parameters: pitch frequency and amplitude. The power ...

IOPscience2024

Enhancing Wind Farm Performance through Axial Induction and Tilt Control: Insights from Wind Tunnel Experiments

Fernando Porté Agel, Guillem Armengol Barcos

Static axial induction control and tilt control are two strategies that have the potential to increase power production in wind farms, mitigating wake effects and increasing the available power for downstream turbines. In this study, wind tunnel experiment ...

MDPI2024

Data from: Optimal blade pitch control for enhanced vertical-axis wind turbine performance

Sébastien Le Fouest, Karen Ann J Mulleners

This directory contains open-source data obtained using a single-bladed H-type vertical-axis wind turbine prototype with individual blade pitching. This data results from the optimisation of the blade's pitching kinematics using a genetic algorithm at two ...

Zenodo2024

The effects of kinematics, flexibility, and planform on the vortex formation and aerodynamic performance of flapping wing flight

Alexander Gehrke

In this thesis, the aerodynamic challenges in flapping wing flight are addressed. In particular, the effects of different wing kinematics, flexibilities, and planforms on the the leading edge vortex development and aerodynamic performance are investigated. ...

EPFL2023

Earwig-inspired foldable origami wing for micro air vehicle gliding

Jamie Paik, Risa Ishiguro

Foldable wings serve as an effective solution for reducing the size of micro air vehicles (MAVs) during non-flight phases, without compromising the gliding capacity provided by the wing area. Among insects, earwigs exhibit the highest folding ratio in thei ...

Frontiers Media Sa2023

Wind Defiant Morphing Drones

Dario Floreano, Victor Casas Rochel, Nathan Samuel Müller, Charalampos Vourtsis, William John Stewart

Intense winds are a challenge for vertical take-off and landing drones with wings. In particular, in the hovering regime, wings are sensitive to wind currents that can be detrimental to their operational and energetic performances. Tail-sitters are particu ...

2023

Dynamic stall characterisation and control for vertical-axis wind turbines

Sébastien Le Fouest

According to the International Energy Agency, the global net-zero emissions objective requires the installed wind power capacity to increase 11-fold between 2020 and 2050. The scientific community has recently voiced concerns about the logistic feasibility ...

EPFL2023

Wind Turbine Wakes in Active Yaw Control: Numerical and Theoretical Studies

Mou Lin

In this thesis, we explore the best practice of simulating the wakes of the turbines under active yaw control (AYC) using large-eddy simulation (LES). In the first study, we validate the blade-element actuator disk model (ADM-BE) for a yawed wind turbine. ...

EPFL2023

Information-Driven Gas Distribution Mapping for Autonomous Mobile Robots

Alcherio Martinoli, Faezeh Rahbar, Chiara Ercolani

The ability to sense airborne pollutants with mobile robots provides a valuable asset for domains such as industrial safety and environmental monitoring. Oftentimes, this involves detecting how certain gases are spread out in the environment, commonly refe ...

MDPI2023

Time scales of dynamic stall development on a vertical-axis wind turbine blade

Sébastien Le Fouest, Karen Ann J Mulleners, Daniel Marie Fernex

Vertical-axis wind turbines are excellent candidates to diversify wind energy technology, but their aerodynamic complexity limits industrial deployment. To improve the efficiency and lifespan of vertical-axis wind turbines, we desire data-driven models and ...

2023

A wind tunnel study on cyclic yaw control: Power performance and wake characteristics

Fernando Porté Agel, Arslan Salim Dar, Guiyue Duan

In this study, wind-tunnel experiments are used to investigate cyclic yaw control as a wake mitigation strategy aiming to improve wind farm power production. The control strategy is applied to a single wind turbine and a wind farm comprising of a column of ...

Elsevier2023

Snow transport in extreme environments: from small to large scale modeling

Daniela Brito Melo

The cold regions on Earth, such as the polar and high mountain regions, are snow covered for at least a part of the year. These snow-covered surfaces are highly dynamic, particularly under the influence of strong winds. The aeolian or wind-driven transport ...

EPFL2023

Combining Weather Station Data and Short-Term LiDAR Deployment to Estimate Wind Energy Potential with Machine Learning: A Case Study from the Swiss Alps

Michael Lehning, Wolf Hendrik Huwald, Franziska Gerber, Jérôme François Sylvain Dujardin, Fanny Kristianti

Wind energy potential in complex terrain is still poorly understood and difficult to quantify. With Switzerland’s current efforts to shift to renewable energy resources, it is now becoming even more crucial to investigate the hidden potential of wind energ ...

2023

Wing and tail morphing in birds and drones

Enrico Ajanic

To aid humans in civilian tasks, future drones will have to operate in large cities that abound with difficult flight conditions such as confined spaces, obstacles, and turbulent air. Such drones must cruise efficiently to cover vast distances fast and als ...

EPFL2023

Sharp turning maneuvers with avian-inspired wing and tail morphing

Dario Floreano, Enrico Ajanic, Mir Alikhan Bin Mohammad Feroskhan, Valentin Wüest

Flight in dense environments, such as forests and cities requires drones to perform sharp turns. Although fixed-wing drones are aerodynamically and energetically more efficient than multicopters, they require a comparatively larger area to turn and thus ar ...

2022

Experimental investigation of surface roughness effect on a free-flight sphere in a Ludwieg tube

Seong-Hyeon Park

Understanding the aerodynamic coefficients of meteoroid fragments, deorbiting space debris, or launch vehicle stages through atmospheric reentry is essential for ground risk assessments. In high enthalpy flow, surface roughness is a crucial factor affectin ...

KOREAN SOC MECHANICAL ENGINEERS2022

Wind Estimation with Multirotor UAVs

Jan Skaloud, Kilian Meier

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have benefited from a tremendous increase in popularity over the past decade, which has inspired their application toward many novel and unique use cases. One of them is the use of UAVs in meteorological research, in particu ...

2022

From coating flow patterns to porous body wake dynamics via multiscale models

Pier Giuseppe Ledda

Multiscale phenomena are involved in countless problems in fluid mechanics. Coating flows are known to exhibit a broad variety of patterns, such as wine tears in a glass and dripping of fresh paint applied on a wall. Coating flows are typically modeled und ...

EPFL2022