Thomas Gijs, Stijn De Bondt

Kiteswarms

Tuesday, May 15, 2018, 11:00

Room 01-012, Georges-Köhler-Allee 102, Freiburg 79110, Germany

The tethered tension sensor is a Dyneema based tension load cell that measures the forces between movable structures. In this case, the forces on the sub-tethers. The working behind the TTS is a dip coating of CNT particles on a Dyneema rope. When tension is applied on the TTS, the distance between the yarns decreases and the CNT particles come closer. This decreases the electrical resistance linearly with the applied force. The goal is to provide a light weight force sensor, enclosed from water with a much lower aerodynamic resistance than an industrial load cell. The sensor will contain a watertight enclosure, two loops at each end as an interface and an internal half-bridge configuration to compensate for temperature changes. Our current challenges are the creep happening in the Dyneema itself and creating a good calibration method.