SurfplanAdapter: Kite Design Processing and Analysis Tool

Purpose

SurfplanAdapter converts design files from SurfPlan to yaml format, designed for use in aerodynamic and structural analysis of kites. The yaml files are used in:

• Vortex-Step-Method for aerodynamic simulations.
• kite_fem for structural analysis.
• Particle_System_Simulator for structural analysis.
• ASKITE for coupled aero-structural analysis, integrating the toolchains mentioned above.

Installation Instruction

1. Install by running

Linux:

```bash
git clone git@github.com:jellepoland/SurfplanAdapter.git && \
cd SurfplanAdapter && \
python3 -m venv venv && \
source venv/bin/activate && \
pip install -e .[dev]
  ```

Windows:

```bash
git clone git@github.com:jellepoland/SurfplanAdapter.git; `
cd SurfplanAdapter; `
python -m venv venv; `
.\venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1; `
pip install -e .[dev]
```

2. Verify working, by running the workflow for the TUDELFT_V3_KITE

python -m scripts.process_surfplan_files --kite_name=TUDELFT_V3_KITE

Processing your own Surfplan Design

1. Export your kite design from SurfPlan:

   • Export the main design as a .txt file.
   • Export each airfoil profile as a .dat file (through the XFLR5 output).

2. Create a new kite folder in data/ (e.g., data/MY_NEW_KITE) and place your exported files

3. Adjust the config.yaml in your kite folder to specify any custom settings, e.g. canopy density.

4. Run the processing pipeline from the repository root:

   python -m scripts.process_surfplan_files --kite_name=MY_NEW_KITE

Citation

If you use this project in your research, please cite:

@software{surfplanadapter2026,
  author = {Poland, Jelle and Mooijman, Tom and Tan, Corentin and Romain, Lambert},
  title = {SurfplanAdapter},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://github.com/jellepoland/SurfplanAdapter}
}

Citation details can also be found in CITATION.cff.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

WAIVER

Technische Universiteit Delft hereby disclaims all copyright interest in the package written by the Author(s).

Prof.dr. H.G.C. (Henri) Werij, Dean of Aerospace Engineering

Copyright

Copyright (c) 2026 Jelle Poland (TU Delft), Romain Lambert (beyond the sea)

Copyright (c) 2025 Jelle Poland (TU Delft)

Copyright (c) 2024 Jelle Poland (TU Delft), Corentin Tan (beyond the sea), Tom Mooijman (Kitepower)