ETH Zurich: Wireless pressure sensors for optimising sail trimming

Licensing opportunity

When sailing yachts it is important to sense small changes in the wind immediately and trim the sails accordingly. Scientists at ETH Zurich have invented a pressure sensor that can monitor the wind condition of the sails at a glance and combine temperature, pressure and wind speed information to optimise sail trimming.

Wind changes are visible immediately, even at night. In the near future, crew members will be equipped with wearable mobile devices displaying the most accurate sail trimming information.

The system has potential to provide fully automatic sail trimming when used in combination with an automatic pilot.

The system is powered by solar cells, which support independent wireless data transfer.

Any yacht can be upgraded with the sail trimming system, with real time visualisation on an on-board computer.

Beyond yachting, the sensors could be applied in paragliding and wind gliding.

For more information, see the project’s page at: http://www.switt.ch/files/technologien/wireless_sail_monitoring_sensors_t08_008.pdf