Kitepower V9 kite during its second flight in Ireland, 23 September 2023.
For this specific test, the 60m² leading-edge inflatable V9 kite was flown under conservative operational settings. The primary focus of the test was data acquisition rather than maximizing energy production. As a result, the power output during the flight was significantly lower than that of standard Kitepower operations.
| Kite | Tether | KCU | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total wing area | 60 m² | Density | 724 kg/m³ | Diameter | 0.62 m |
| Projected wing area | 46.85 m² | Diameter | 14 mm | Length | 1.2 m |
| Total mass | 62 kg | Total mass | 31.6 kg |
This dataset captures flight data from the Kitepower V9 kite during a flight conducted on 27 November 2023. The recorded flight spans from 14:17 to 15:40 UTC, during which the kite completed a total of 66 pumping cycles.
Video still of the ground station and kite seen from an upwind position
The wind during the flight was relatively constant, averaging approximately 11 m/s and coming predominantly from the southwest direction.
Key measurements include:
- Position, Orientation, Velocities, and Accelerations: Recorded at two of the kite’s central struts using Pixhawk IMU+GPS systems, encompassing translational and rotational kinematics.
- Airflow Measurements: Collected using a pitot tube and wind vanes to measure angle of attack, sideslip angle, apparent windspeed and airspeed temperature. The sensor was installed in the front bridle lines of the kite.
- Tether Force: Measured at the ground station using a load cell and an elevation angle encoder.
- Lidar Data: Collected at a 1-minute resolution, acquired with a Windcube v2.
Still from the kite control unit's onboard video camera showing the ram-air turbine and the wing.
The contents of this repository are published under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license: the data can be used as long as attribution is made to this repository. Nevertheless, if you pursue a publication that uses the data we request you to:
- Stress that the test flight does not represent the state-of-the-art of Kitepower as (1) the system configuration was already dated at the time of the test and has gone through substantial development since then and (2) the test was focused on data acquisition rather than maximising energy production;
- Acknowledge Kitepower and include a link to https://thekitepower.com;
- Send the preprint including the data via email to publications@kitepower.nl;
- Allow Kitepower to post the preprint of the publication on kitepower.nl and/or Kitepower-related networks, if such public posting is in accordance with the agreement between author and publisher.
The acquired data is provided in csv-format. In the content description, we use the following abbreviations:
- NED: North-East-Down earth-fixed reference frame
- FRD: Forward-Right-Down body-fixed reference frame
- kite_0: Pixhawk unit 0 - Mounted on the central strut of the kite
- kite_1: Pixhawk unit 1 - Mounted on the kite control unit (KCU)
The kite position data is derived from measurements taken by Pixhawk unit 0 and processed using the default Kalman filter implementation provided by Pixhawk.
Ground track of the kite over the entire flight, from launching until landing, indicating also the position of the upwind ground camera.
The wind measurements were collected with a Leosphere WindCube v2 lidar. The system captures wind measurements at multiple heights (40 m to 250 m) at 1-second intervals, which are aggregated into 1-minute statistics in the dataset. These measurements include the mean, maximum, and minimum wind speeds, standard deviation of wind speeds, wind direction, vertical wind component (z-wind), Doppler spectrum broadening, Carrier-to-Noise Ratio (CNR), and data availability. Data are organized by height, with the height (e.g., 40 m, 60 m, etc.) indicated in the variable name. The lidar was positioned 140 m southeast of the ground station.
Flying kite casting its shadow on the paved area of the test center.
Position of the lidar relative to the ground station.
| Variable | Description | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| time | Unix timestamp: number of seconds since 0:00 UTC on January 1, 1970 | s |
| date | Date | dd-mm-yyyy |
| time_of_day | Time | hh:mm:ss (UTC+2) |
| kite_{sensor_id}_vx | x-component of the kite velocity in the NED earth reference frame | m/s |
| kite_{sensor_id}_vy | y-component of the kite velocity in the NED earth reference frame | m/s |
| kite_{sensor_id}_vz | z-component of the kite velocity in the NED earth reference frame | m/s |
| kite_{sensor_id}_roll | Roll angle as part of the 3-2-1 Euler sequence to get from the NED earth to the FRD body reference frame | deg |
| kite_{sensor_id}_pitch | Pitch angle as part of the 3-2-1 Euler sequence to get from the NED earth to the FRD body reference frame | deg |
| kite_{sensor_id}_yaw | Yaw angle as part of the 3-2-1 Euler sequence to get from the NED earth to the FRD body reference frame | deg |
| kite_{sensor_id}_longitude | Geodetic longitude of the kite | deg |
| kite_{sensor_id}_latitude | Geodetic latitude of the kite | deg |
| kite_{sensor_id}_altitude | Geodetic altitude of the kite | m |
| ground_upwind_direction | Instantaneous wind direction measured at ground level, relative to North, clockwise positive | deg |
| ground_wind_velocity | Instantaneous wind speed measured at ground level | m/s |
| ground_tether_reelout_speed | Reel-out speed of the tether (inferred from the rotational speed of the drum) | m/s |
| ground_tether_force | Tether force measured at the ground station (inferred from load cell at outlet pulley and tether angle) | kg |
| ground_tether_length | Total length of the tether deployed from the ground station | m |
| kite_pos_east | Position of the kite east of the ground station (derived primarily from sensor 0 measurements) | m |
| kite_pos_north | Position of the kite north of the ground station (derived primarily from sensor 0 measurements) | m |
| kite_height | Height of the kite relative to the ground station (derived primarily from sensor 0 measurements) | m |
| ground_pos_longitude | Longitude of the ground station, measured with a GPS device | deg |
| ground_pos_latitude | Latitude of the ground station, measured with a GPS device | deg |
| ground_pos_altitude | Altitude of the ground station, measured with a GPS device | m |
| kite_heading | Angle between the axis pointing up and the kite x-axis projection onto the tangential plane, clockwise positive when viewed from above the kite towards the origin | rad |
| kite_course | Angle between the axis pointing up and the kite velocity projection onto the tangential plane, clockwise positive when viewed from above the kite towards the origin | rad |
| kite_actual_steering | Level of realized steering actuation as a percentage of the range in one direction | % |
| kite_actual_depower | Level of realized depower as a percentage of the full range | % |
| kite_set_steering | Set/desired value of steering actuation as a percentage of the range in one direction | % |
| kite_set_depower | Set/desired depower as a percentage of the full range | % |
| ground_mech_energy | Generated mechanical energy at the winch since the start of the test flight | J |
| ground_mech_power | Mechanical power measured at the winch | W |
| kite_turn_rate | Rate of change of the kite's heading angle (turning speed), clockwise positive when viewed from above | rad/s |
| flight_phase | Label of the active flight phase: pp-ro = reel-out, pp-ri = reel-in, pp-rori = reel-out to reel-in transition, pp-riro = reel-in to reel-out transition |
- |
| flight_phase_index | Index of the active flight phase: 1 = reel-out, 2 = reel-in, 3 = reel-out to reel-in transition, 4 = reel-in to reel-out transition |
- |
| {height} Wind Speed (m/s) | Average wind speed at 200 meters height over 1 minute | m/s |
| {height} Wind Speed Dispersion (m/s) | Standard deviation of wind speed at 200 meters height over 1 minute | m/s |
| {height} Wind Speed min (m/s) | Minimum wind speed at 200 meters height over 1 minute | m/s |
| {height} Wind Speed max (m/s) | Maximum wind speed at 200 meters height over 1 minute | m/s |
| {height} Wind Direction (°) | Average clockwise upwind direction from the North at 200 meters height over 1 minute | deg |
| {height} Z-wind (m/s) | Vertical wind component at 200 meters height over 1 minute | m/s |
| {height} Z-wind Dispersion (m/s) | Standard deviation of the vertical wind component at 200 meters height over 1 minute | m/s |
| {height} CNR (dB) | Average Carrier-to-Noise Ratio (CNR) at 200 meters height over 1 minute | dB |
| {height} CNR min (dB) | Minimum Carrier-to-Noise Ratio (CNR) at 200 meters height over 1 minute | dB |
| {height} Dopp Spect Broad (m/s) | Doppler spectrum broadening at 200 meters height over 1 minute | m/s |
| {height} Data Availability (%) | Percentage of valid data collected at 200 meters height over 1 minute | % |
| airspeed_temperature | Temperature measured at the airspeed probe | °C |
| airspeed_angle_of_attack | Angle of attack of the airspeed relative to the body-fixed reference frame | deg |
| airspeed_sideslip_angle | Sideslip angle of the airspeed relative to the body-fixed reference frame | deg |
| airspeed_apparent_windspeed | Apparent wind speed measured by the airspeed probe | m/s |
Oriol Cayon¹, Roland Schmehl¹ (email: r.schmehl@tudelft.nl), Andrei Luca², and Johannes Peschel²
¹ Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Kluyverweg 1, 2629 HS Delft, The Netherlands
² Kitepower B.V., Schieweg 15, Hall R, 2627 AN Delft, The Netherlands
This dataset is licensed under the
This project MERIDIONAL has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101084216. The opinions expressed in this document reflect only the author’s view and reflects in no way the European Commission’s opinions. The European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.