Control of a wind power system based on a tethered wing

This paper presents a wind power system based on a kite attached with a rope to a dynamo on the ground. We present the aerodynamical equations which model the system and propose a control strategy for stabilizing the angle of flight θ and the length of the rope r. The control objective is to keep the angle of the rope θ fixed to a desired value during an energy producing cycle in which the rope length r follows a sinusoidal trajectory. The control strategy is based on the feedback linearization technique. The proposed control law is first tested in numerical simulations. An experiment has been set up including a wind tunnel, a wing and various sensors. The control strategy has been successfully tested in the experimental set up.