DELHI: A team of Indian students, spread across four countries in three continents, have jointly created the world’s first airplane that generates its own power by the vibration of its wings.
The path breaking idea has made it to the finals of a global competition floated by Airbus.
The team which includes students presently studying in Bangalore, Netherlands, US and London envisages a future when the aircraft wings can be dressed in a composite skin that harvests energy from natural vibrations or flex in the wings.
The team now travels to Hamburg, Germany, to make their case for the top prize to Airbus.
The winners of “Fly Your Ideas” competition to be announced on May 27 will win a 30,000 euro jackpot.
Team leader Sathiskumar Anusuya Ponnusami from Delft University of Technology (Netherlands) told TOI, “There is a natural vibration that exists in every aircraft when it flies during which energy is generated. At present this energy goes wasted. We intend to harvest the energy from those vibrations which will be sufficient enough to power inflight operations like lighting and on board entertainment.”
The team uses piezoelectric fibres which gather electrical charges from even the smallest movements during flight, storing the energy generated in battery panels integrated in the fuselage and using it to power auxiliary in-flight systems. This reduces the energy footprint of aircraft during flight and could even replace the entire power source for ground operations.
