Dropping things from kite systems

Have kite systems work to lift items or collect items; manufacturing of items aloft may be done; modification of items aloft may be accomplished. But then drop the items from the aloft position for various purposes and to various aloft or ground or water target scenes.   AWES6241    Aim to replace dropping operations that use fossil fuels.  Use the kite system to do the lifting work; use free-fall in the gravity field of a planet to give the impact scenario desired; shape the dropping items to obtain the drag needed (to obtain slow or fast impacts).  

Safety and respect of life and property are key aspects of dropping items from kite systems.

• It might be better to arrange a kite to drop a weight repeatedly onto one anchor. It would improve aim, and compensate for variable sub-soil conditions. it would also be able to set a much larger anchor from a small one. One kite might be used to lift the weight, and another one to pull it down to a pulley on the new anchor, to help guide the blow. Of course, it would also work for the ancient art of general pile-driving. A pair of kites with a natural tendency to pull and luff in stable cycles might drive a nice compact hammer arrangement.  ~ Bob Stuart       11May2012
   
  • I think you should work on getting a kite to drop heavy things. Try a rock first and stand directly under it to insure an accurate recording of the impact. Dave S. can build an array of kites with party-favors to celebrate "one more breakthrough"...   :)     ~ Doug Selsam    11May2012
     
    • This is a really cool idea of JoeF's, extending, by kinetic driving, earlier Forum ideas of soft-lander anchors (Seven League Boots topic). Bob's pile-driving app is great, especially if the sea rises while waiting for Doug's Ice Age. Why is it no surprise Doug immediately thought to drop a rock on JoeF, for laughs? Joe, drop cat poop on Doug; that's funnier :)
      
      Its going to be easy to rig small gliders to drop tethered spikes or other anchors so they snub up seamlessly into stable kite mode. Hang gliders and paragliders could already drop anchors to land in otherwise impossible terrain, by combinations of winching and winds. Airports could even someday be displaced by dropped winched anchor methods.     ~ Dave Santos    11May2012
       
• Yes, and of course make them self-replicating like all those nano-machines from the 1990's...
  Weren't self-replicating nanobots supposed to have taken over the entire planet by now? Hey, can they make a self-replicating anything, at any size, yet?     ~ Doug Selsam   11May2012       
         [Neat idea: a kite system might be programmed to manufacture copies of itself and then drop the copy for anchoring and deployment. Collect materials from the soil; use energy from wind and sun to generate the copies. Etc.   Futuristic idea, Doug!    Self-replicating kite systems that do special works like generate electricity.  Self-anchoring self-replicating self-soaring AWES birds.   JoeF ]
• Seven League Boots/ Flying Carpet Hybrid Device
   
• Gather and drop part of the kite system itself.
• As a method of downing a kite system, have parts drop away from the system upon event trigger or signal.
• Drop recreational or commercial sky divers.
• Drop recreational or commercial hang gliders and paragliders.
• Drop unmanned gliders of various sorts for recreation or commercial or industrial purpose.
• Drop food to areas of special need.
• Drop water or special chemicals onto fires.
• Drop humans with wingsuits.
• Drop humans onto water for play.
• Drop spear-like anchors in the building of kite systems.
• Drop literature for recreational or political or emergency purposes.
• Drop supplies to solve needs.
• Drop seeds in the renewal of burnt areas.
• Drop seeds in a farming effort.
• Drop self-planting young trees.
• Drop water that has been collected aloft from the atmosphere; have a loop line that lets the dropping action drive a generator shaft.   Or first kite lift the water from a body of water and still then drop the water in a bag which dropping is combined with a loop line that drives a generator shaft.
• Drop objects that are intended to impact the ground or concrete for material testing, for object destruction, for entertainment, for detonating land mines.
• Drop shaped objects that are intended to self-bury at impact.
• There are many patents that describe sending things up kite-system tethers. Some of the methods use the wind directly to sail the items up the tethers. Other methods use turbines in the kite system to be used do the lifting.   Many patents describe release mechanisms to effect dropping of objects from kite systems.
• Drop weather-altering substances.
• Drop materials being used in construction projects.
• Drop uncured concrete.
• Drop boulders in order to crack them to smaller pieces.
• Drop live animals to effect changes in an environment.
• What is being dropped from powered aircraft that might be dropped instead by kite systems?  Examine fuel savings and costs.
• Drop powered UAVs at a specific time and place.
• Drop a branch of a tree AWES. Perhaps the branch coagulate into a glider format for gliding to specific landing areas.
• Drop gliders that hold cameras, perhaps live cams.
• Drop tools needed at a work site.
• Drop a new product from the kite system; film the drop. Use the image story in advertising.  Example.
• Drop confetti for a celebration.
• Drop prizes at a birthday party.
• Drop model test gliders, parachutes, gliding-kites (paragliders), drag-test models
• Kite Candy Drop:   Example2009 (two rules: 1. share 2.kill not)
• Drop paint to effect finish on objects or to create art.
• Recreational target games: Drop items into target ground catch bins, etc.   Competitions.
• Drop misted water to cool people, animals, plants.
• Drop water onto crops.
• Drop nutrients onto crops.
• Drop freight or passengers to the decks of ships at sea.  The kite system acts as a loading device.
• Drop sets of parachutes to people stuck on the roof of a skyscraper.
• Drop packages from kite systems by use of guide lines or let-down lines.
• Drop the anchoring end of a guide line; then once the guide line is set, then drop items down the guide line.
• Calculate the impact point by respecting the aerodynamics of the dropped object, the release altitude, the winds, and the release vectors.  Honing devices might be used in the dropping package.
• Staged drops might include deployment of parachutes after designed free fall.
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