Wind energy systems, such as an Airborne Wind Turbine (“AWT”), may be used to facilitate conversion of kinetic energy to electrical energy. An AWT may include an aerial vehicle that flies in a path, such as a substantially circular path, to convert kinetic wind energy to electrical energy. In an example embodiment, the aerial vehicle may be connected to a ground station via a tether that both restrains the AWT and conveys the electrical energy to the base station. The tether may be wound about a drum when the AWT is not in flight, and the drum may include a helical groove of varying pitch to receive the tether. An asymmetrical levelwind may be positioned adjacent to the drum and configured to move along the drum and guide the tether onto the drum.
Tether Winding
2016-01-07
Patent
Electronic Resource
English
IPC: | B66D Haspeln , CAPSTANS |