Kite | EPFL Graph Search

A kite is a tethered heavier-than-air or lighter-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create lift and drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. Kites often have a bridle and tail to guide the face of the kite so the wind can lift it. Some kite designs do not need a bridle; box kites can have a single attachment point. A kite may have fixed or moving anchors that can balance the kite. The name is derived from the kite, the hovering bird of prey. The lift that sustains the kite in flight is generated when air moves around the kite's surface, producing low pressure above and high pressure below the wings. The interaction with the wind also generates horizontal drag along the direction of the wind. The resultant force vector from the lift and drag force components is opposed by the tension of one or more of the lines or tethers to which the kite is attached. The anchor point of the kite line may be static or moving (e.g., the towing of a kite by a running person, boat, free-falling anchors as in paragliders and fugitive parakites or vehicle). The same principles of fluid flow apply in liquids, so kites can be used in underwater currents. Paravanes and otter boards operate underwater on an analogous principle. Man-lifting kites were made for reconnaissance, entertainment and during development of the first practical aircraft, the biplane. Kites have a long and varied history and many different types are flown individually and at festivals worldwide. Kites may be flown for recreation, art or other practical uses. Sport kites can be flown in aerial ballet, sometimes as part of a competition. Power kites are multi-line steerable kites designed to generate large forces which can be used to power activities such as kite surfing, kite landboarding, kite buggying and snow kiting. In China, the kite has been claimed as the invention of the 5th-century BC Chinese philosophers Mozi (also Mo Di, or Mo Ti) and Lu Ban (also Gongshu Ban, or Kungshu Phan).

Crosswind Kite Control - A Benchmark Problem for Advanced Control and Dynamic Optimization

Dominique Bonvin, Grégory François, Sean Costello

This article presents a kite control and optimization problem intended as a benchmark problem for advanced control and optimization. We provide an entry point to this exciting renewable energy system for researchers in control and optimization methods look ...

Wiley-Blackwell2017

A Directional Modifier-Adaptation Algorithm for Real-Time Optimization

Dominique Bonvin, Grégory François, Sean Costello

The steady advances of computational methods make model-based optimization an increasingly attractive method for process improvement. Unfortunately, the available models are often inaccurate. The traditional remedy is to update the model parameters, but th ...

Elsevier2016

Analysis of the Maximum Efficiency of Kite-Power Systems

Dominique Bonvin, Grégory François, Sean Costello

This paper analyzes the maximum power that a kite, or system of kites, can extract from the wind. Firstly, a number of existing results on kite system efficiency are reviewed. The results that are generally applicable require significant simplifying assump ...

2015