Sky_liner

It takes a fair amount of skill to fly a kite. With its Sky_liner project, Festo has become the first company to demonstrate that fully automated control can be achieved with the aid of mechatronics, thus linking a new development to its core competency of automation using moving air.

Sky_liner consists of two two-line kites, each of which is controlled using a mechatronic control unit. The two kites are operated automatically indoors, using servo motors and artificial wind. Each line is connected via fast-switching valves to a Fluidic muscle DMSP from Festo, which shortens the line and counterbalances the kite by contracting when the kite breaks away.