The two goals of this project were, to develop a wind monitoring system to be used during field testing of the WPI kite power system and to develop a grain grinder accessory for the same system for use in a developing nation such as Namibia. The system consists of a pyramid frame mounted to the underside of a weather balloon with an anemometer hung from it. A deployment system was built with a frame and anemometer assembly. MATLAB code was written and a transmitter built for displaying wind speed in graphical form on a laptop. The grain grinder accessory broadens the functionality of the kite power system. A pulley system was developed to scale down system shaft speeds to an appropriate rotational velocity for the grain grinder, which is mounted to the side of the kite power system frame.

• This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

Creator

• Phaneuf, Joseph B.
• Krishnaswamy, Deepa
• Perullo, Travis Richard

Subject

• Energy
• Environment
• Community
• Sustainability

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• E-project-050709-122802

Keyword

• Sustainability
• Rural development
• Wind power

Advisor

• Olinger, David J.

Year

• 2009

Date created

• 2009-05-07

Location

• Worcester

Resource type

• Interactive Qualifying Project

Rights statement

• In Copyright

Last modified

• 2021-01-08