Does anybody have more details? Could we create an open source, lower cost version? The winch seems a bit expensive at around $5,000-7,000 (different versions) at http://miamiparagliding.com/shop/
Thatās before battery and rope (battery 72V, 1.3km dyneema rope (~2.5mm?) are also available in the shop with prices that seem more attractive to me).
The smallest one they have is 6kW and similar to the $1,000 ebike wheel at https://www.ebay.com/itm/184849757367 - with controller etc, but no wireless remote and antenna obviously. I am familiar with ebikes but not winches, not sure how āpayoutā works with stationary winch and there seems to be some adjustable tensioning system involved. More info: eWinch Design - Miami Paragliding
I really respect the maker of this device and it seems well thought out. I was just wondering how much power my ebike would need to tow a paraglider a few feet above the ground in still air (yes, I know, terrible idea) and then I looked at this winch and noticed they use an ebike hub motor too (at least in the cheapest version), basically with a metal spool instead of spokes. Of course most ebikes are around 500W, this is more like e-MTB or e-motorcycle.
Any thoughts?