Changing the way drone flight testing is conducted
As airspace becomes increasingly crowded, a Swiss company is advancing the technologies behind uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) to make drones safer and more reliable.
Founded in 2016 by several young engineers in Geneva, WindShape SA. was conceived with the vision of revolutionizing experimental aerodynamics through the commercialization of its WindShaper technology.
Today, the company is highly regarded for its wind-generating test equipment. WindShape manufactures indoor wind and micro-weather testing solutions that are available both as a product and as a testing service.
“Our aim is to reproduce weather conditions inside the lab to allow the customer to conduct testing of several things such as drones, wind turbines, aircraft, car and automotive parts,” says lead production engineer and company co-founder Luca Jacopo Bardazzi.
THE CHALLENGE
WindShape was established just as drones were becoming more accessible and functional for industrial applications, recreational purposes, aerial videography and photography, and others..
At the time, Bardazzi and the other co-founders recognized the need for more advanced testing that would incorporate how conditions such as wind, rain and temperature affect drone flights.
Their solution was the WindShaper, a modular wind generator consisting of a large number of small fans that generate complex air flows in laboratory environments.
THE WINDSHAPER
The main component of the WindShaper is the wall of fans that produces the desired wind profiles needed for free flight tests and aerodynamic measurements. Composed of base units called ‘wind modules’, the WindShaper can be stacked and combined to create walls of fans of any dimensions. They can also be arranged at different angles to simulate natural winds of differing speed and direction.
Breaking down the wind modules, each unit is about 25 x 25 cm and contains nine wind pixels, which in turn consist of two counter rotating fans that can be individually controlled.
Because of their small size, the wind pixels are more reactive than traditional wind tunnel fans. Instantaneous speed changes enable users to generate highly dynamic 3D flows such as gusts that were previously much more difficult to replicate in a lab.
WindShaper technology is powered through the company’s WindControl software.
DATA CONFIRMATION
Along with offering testing for prototypes and new products, WindShape provides drone testing, inspection and certification (TIC).
The testing is the process of ensuring that a drone and its associated systems, including data and operations, meet specific requirements and standards. This involves comparing drone data with ground truth, testing various aspects of the drone, and validating flight operations and airspace requests.
WindShape offers its R&D facilities to drone manufacturers so they can show compliance to regulations through rigorous and repeatable flight testing. The company also supports drone operators with periodic inspection of drone fleets.
ENABLING ACADEMIA
Although headquartered in Switzerland, WindShape technology can be found around the world.
The company’s first customer was the California Institute of Technology. Since then, a number of other high-profile research schools now have WindShape wind-generating products in their labs.
Awarded on September 29, 2023, under contract number 80TECH23PA015, WindShape Inc. has been selected by NASA Ames Research Center to supply a cutting-edge Wind Fan Array laboratory device.
The latest institution to have a WindShape wind-simulation system is Mississippi State University.
“The WindShape system significantly enhances our ability to test and refine aircraft technologies under realistic wind conditions, helping to ensure the safety and reliability of future unmanned aircraft system missions,” acknowledges Bryan Farrell, interim director of MSU’s Raspet Flight Research Laboratory.
THE TULSA FACILITY
In 2025, WindShape will inaugurate a state-of-the-art test facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The 20,000 sq.-ft. space is equipped with a number of labs that test all aspects of drone activity, including flight capabilities, response to failure and flying in adverse conditions.
“We want to help drone manufacturers develop their business, their machines, so we will take care of all the development and all the testing parts to help with the design and certification,” says Bardazzi.
Services offered at the facility include the re-creation of flight scenarios with winds up to 25 m/s (55 mph; 90 km/h), the evaluation of a drone’s ability to fly with wind and turbulence, and testing of a system’s response to failure while in flight.
WORKING WITH PROTOCASE
Although WindShape’s wind-generating test equipment can be fairly large, it is made up of many smaller parts, many used repeatedly, in the system’s assemblies.
Many of those parts are supplied by Protocase Inc.
“Protocase was one of our first suppliers when we started the company – in fact, we used you as a supplier before we even started WindShape,” recalls Bardazzi.
“And, since then, we have been really happy with the service and we continue to use Protocase as a supplier without even thinking about looking somewhere else. We find that everything is streamlined. Just a couple of emails and everything is set up. So, we love it.”
WHAT’S IN THE WIND?
With its new testing facility in Oklahoma and with an ongoing commitment to product development, WindShape continues to advance its technologies.
Bardazzi says that tech has quietly become a reference in the scientific community.
“But we are still at the beginning of the exploration of its capabilities,” he muses.
“We envision that our expertise together with our products will become a facilitator for every new drone application. Even more, it may become an enabler as it has the potential to solve the problem of drone validation, inspection and certification.