For the obvious reasons, I invariably get too busy to blog exactly when things get interesting...
It is never too early to speculate…
We started the week with three teams, all of whom capable (on paper) of achieving 5 m/s. What follows are my thoughts about what we can expect from these teams if they choose to re-compete in the next round of the power beaming challenge, which will only have the 5 m/s benchmark level.
LaserMotive:
LaserMotive was clearly able to demonstrate the most amount of power transferred, and the highest degree of efficiency. In their last climb, attempting 5 m/s, they modified their climber to decrease its weight (LM’s Dave Bashford referred to this as “Steamboat racing”) and ended up removing too much structure – they got stuck to their launch structure and dragged it up the cable 75′, with an additional force larger than the weight of their climber… With more than 1000 Watts transferred (peak) and roughly a horse power on average, their climber is clearly superbly designed, and is capable of achieving this speed. LM’s can still improve their tracking, and the climber can (obviously) be made lighter – they will therefore have a comfortable margin in the next round.
Kansas City Space Pirates:
Kansas City Space Pirates demonstrated the best beam director and beam quality in the games. Their TRUMPF powered system is clearly capable of putting the most power on the climber, in the most accurate and consistent manner, and be able to do so at much higher distances than 1 km. Their downfall was the design-point of the climber, which was lightweight yet relatively weak. On paper, this cancels out, but aerodynamic forces do not go down with weight, and clearly Brian will be re-visiting these parameters in the coming weeks. With a redesigned climber, KCSP can enjoy more photons on their target than LM, but will likely lag in conversion efficiency. With a re-designed climber, KCSP can be competitive with LM.
USST:
Ironically, USST probably had both tracking technology and power conversion technology down to a level that could be at least equal with LM, but they experienced a set of problems related to several aspects of their system, and ended up almost completely sitting it out. They are therefore an unknown. I do hope they get the problems resolved and are able to make it down for another trip.
Spaceward:
It is no secret that it took us a couple of iterations to figure out how to set up the racetrack… Our job next time, however, is much easier – we have the racetrack stored in a box, we have the right crew, the right venue – we know how much it costs, and how long it takes to do. We’ll be making small changes in the rulebook and setup to facilitate smoother operations, but otherwise – see you all in the next round, date TBA.