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Kite Rig
Kite rigs are wind-assisted propulsion systems for propelling a vehicle. They differ from conventional sails in that they are flown from kite control lines, not supported by masts. Vehicles driven by kites include boats, buggies, and vehicles with snow and ice runners. They may be as simple as a person flying a kite while standing on a specialized skateboard, or be large, complex systems fixed to the vehicle, with powered and automated controls. They have recreational and commercial uses. Structure Current kite rigs can be sailed within 50 degrees of the wind.Skysails Captain John Konrad, Mariner's Weather Log, April 2009, Volume 53, No. 1, This allows them to s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wind Assisted Propulsion
Wind-assisted propulsion is the practice of decreasing the fuel consumption of a merchant vessel through the use of sails or some other wind capture device. Sails used to be the primary means of marine propulsion, propelling ships, but with the advent of the steam engine and the diesel engine, sails came to be used for recreational sailing only. In recent years with increasing fuel costs and an increased focus on reducing emissions, there has been increased interest in harnessing the power of the wind to propel commercial ships. A key barrier for the implementation of any decarbonisation technology and in particular of wind-assisted ones, is frequently discussed in the academia and the industry is the availability of capital. On the one hand, shipping lenders have been reducing their commitments overall while on the other hand, low-carbon newbuilds as well as retrofit projects entail higher-than-usual capital expenditure. Therefore, research effort is directed towards the developm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
High Altitude Wind Power
Airborne wind energy (AWE) is the direct use or generation of wind energy by the use of aerodynamic or aerostatic lift devices. AWE technology is able to harvest high altitude winds, in contrast to wind turbines, which use a rotor mounted on a tower. The term high-altitude wind power (HAWP) has been used to refer to AWE systems. However, semantically HAWP might also include wind energy conversion systems that are somehow positioned at a large height from the ground or sea surface. Various mechanisms are proposed for capturing the kinetic energy of winds such as kites, kytoons, aerostats, Glider (sailplane), gliders, gliders with turbines for regenerative soaring, sailplanes with turbines, or other airfoils, including multiple-point building- or terrain-enabled holdings. Once the mechanical energy is derived from the wind's kinetic energy, then many options are available for using that mechanical energy: direct traction, conversion to electricity aloft or at ground station, conve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orders Of Magnitude
In a ratio scale based on powers of ten, the order of magnitude is a measure of the nearness of two figures. Two numbers are "within an order of magnitude" of each other if their ratio is between 1/10 and 10. In other words, the two numbers are within about a factor of 10 of each other. For example, 1 and 1.02 are within an order of magnitude. So are 1 and 2, 1 and 9, or 1 and 0.2. However, 1 and 15 are not within an order of magnitude, since their ratio is 15/1 = 15 > 10. The reciprocal ratio, 1/15, is less than 0.1, so the same result is obtained. Difference (mathematics), Differences in order of magnitude can be measured on a base-10 logarithmic scale in "Decade (log scale), decades" (i.e., factors of ten). For example, there is one order of magnitude between 2 and 20, and two orders of magnitude between 2 and 200. Each division or multiplication by 10 is called an order of magnitude. This phrasing helps quickly express the difference in scale between 2 and 2,000,000: they di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Control Engineering
Control engineering, also known as control systems engineering and, in some European countries, automation engineering, is an engineering discipline that deals with control systems, applying control theory to design equipment and systems with desired behaviors in control environments. The discipline of controls overlaps and is usually taught along with electrical engineering, chemical engineering and mechanical engineering at many institutions around the world. The practice uses sensors and detectors to measure the output performance of the process being controlled; these measurements are used to provide corrective feedback helping to achieve the desired performance. Systems designed to perform without requiring human input are called automatic control systems (such as cruise control for regulating the speed of a car). Multi-disciplinary in nature, control systems engineering activities focus on implementation of control systems mainly derived by mathematical modeling of a diver ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electronics
Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other Electric charge, electrically charged particles. It is a subfield of physics and electrical engineering which uses Passivity (engineering), active devices such as transistors, diodes, and integrated circuits to control and amplify the flow of electric current and to convert it from one form to another, such as from alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC) or from analog signal, analog signals to digital signal, digital signals. Electronic devices have significantly influenced the development of many aspects of modern society, such as telecommunications, entertainment, education, health care, industry, and security. The main driving force behind the advancement of electronics is the semiconductor industry, which continually produces ever-more sophisticated electronic devices and circuits in respo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
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] |
Fly-by-wire
Fly-by-wire (FBW) is a system that replaces the conventional aircraft flight control system#Hydro-mechanical, manual flight controls of an aircraft with an electronic interface. The movements of flight controls are converted to electronic signals, and flight control computers determine how to move the actuators at each control surface to provide the ordered response. Implementations either use Aircraft flight control system, mechanical flight control backup systems or else are fully electronic.Fly by Wire Flight Control Systems Sutherland Improved fully fly-by-wire systems interpret the pilot's control inputs as a desired outcome and calculate the control surface positions required to achieve that outcome; this results in various combinations of rudder, Elevator (a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snowboard
Snowboards are boards where the user places both feet, usually secured, to the same board. The board itself is wider than most skis, with the ability to glide on snow."snowboarding." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 17 Mar. 2009. . Snowboards widths are between 6 and 12 inches or 15 to 30 centimeters. Snowboards are differentiated from monoskis by the stance of the user. In monoskiing, the user stands with feet inline with direction of travel (facing tip of monoski/downhill) (parallel to long axis of board), whereas in snowboarding, users stand with feet transverse (more or less) to the longitude of the board. Users of such equipment may be referred to as ''snowboarder''s. ''Commercial snowboards'' generally require extra equipment, such as bindings and special boots which help secure both feet of a snowboarder, who generally ride in an upright position. These types of boards are commonly used by people at ski hills, mountains, backcountry, or resorts for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skate Board
A skateboard is a type of sports equipment used for skateboarding. It is usually made of a specially designed 7–8-ply maple plywood deck and has polyurethane wheels attached to the underside by a pair of skateboarding trucks. The skateboard moves by pushing with one foot while the other foot remains balanced on the board, or by pumping one's legs in structures such as a bowl or half pipe. A skateboard can also be used by standing on the deck while on a downward slope and allowing gravity to propel the board and the rider. If the rider's leading foot is their left foot, they are said to ride "regular". Conversely, they are said to ride "goofy" if their leading foot is their right foot. The two main types of skateboards are the longboard and shortboard. The shape of the board is also important: the skateboard must be concaved to perform tricks. History Skateboarding, as it exists today, was probably born sometime in the late 1940s, or early 1950s, when surfers in Californ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
