Publication on ProCap measurements on aerodynamics of hovering drones

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Wake Characteristics of a Free-Flying Quadrotor Hovering in Uniform and Shear Inflows

The wake of a free-flying small quadrotor (DJI NEO) was measured under still air, uniform inflow, and vertical- and horizontal-shear inflow at the exit of an open-circuit wind tunnel. Sensor Tracking Velocimetry (STV) using the ProCap system combined a multi-hole probe with optical tracking to reconstruct three-component, time-averaged velocity fi elds and the mean pressure fi eld on multiple planes downstream and below the vehicle. In still air, four rotor jets merge into a combined downwash; a control-volume momentum balance yielded a mean thrust within 0.76% of the vehicle weight, supporting the accuracy of the reconstructed fi elds. In uniform inflow (U ∞ = 4.3ms −1 ), the wake is convected downstream and exhibits a pronounced counter-rotating vortex pair typical of a jet in crossflow. Under shear inflow, the wake becomes strongly asymmetric, with clear deflection and distortion of the dominant coherent structures. These results quantify the sensitivity of multirotor wakes to nonuniform inflow and demonstrate the potential of ProCap for rapid volumetric wake surveys.

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February 2026 3AF International Conference (Antonios Cene, Jacob Taramasco, Owen McAree, Mike Jump, Vladimir Parezanovi´c and Olivier Cadot)

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Publication on ProCap measurement strategy

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Real-time Sensor Tracking Velocimetry (STV): Opportunities and challenges
with a human in the loop (HITL)

A comparison of Sensor Tracking Velocimetry (STV) with a Human in the Loop (HITL) with stereoscopic Particle Image Velocimetry (stereo PIV) data for a generic wind tunnel setup is presented. In STV, the human in the loop plays a central role in improving measurement efficiency while ensuring data quality. Two main measurement strategies for STV-HITL are assessed: a volumetric strategy for capturing global flow topology and a planar strategy for detailed analysis of  specific planes. The impact of observing data quality measures at the time of the measurement and the spatial resolution of the fl ow fi eld reconstruction are discussed. The results emphasize that both an adapted measurement strategy and real-time quality feedback tools are crucial for concentrating measurement points in relevant areas and thus obtaining an accurate result. The selected resolution has a high impact on measurement time. In thin shear layers and near surfaces the accuracy is reduced by the method’s limit in spatial resolution. With measurement strategy and parameters carefully tailored to the specific requirements of the measurement task, the STV-HITL method can provide high-quality data in significantly less time compared to conventional methods like stereo PIV.

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February 2026 3AF International Conference (Simon Barbe, Andrin Landolt, Ivan Lunati and Claudio Mucignat)

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ProCap with VR Headset

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Procap with VR headset serves as virtual screen to assist ProCap measurements in the RJ Mitchell Wind Tunnel at the University of Southampton

The University of Southampton is testing out  a VR headset as a ‘head-up display’ in the tunnel while using the streamwise ProCap system. It saves having to have a laptop in the tunnel or messing around with monitors in the window etc. when manually acquiring data with the system.

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ProCap professional available at the Human-Flow Interactions Wind Tunnel, University of Manchester

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A ProCap Professional system is the most recent addition to the already impressive test and measurement capabilities in the Human-Flow Interactions Wind Tunnel at the University of Manchester.

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Case study: Industrial flow optimization with ProCap

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Task

Our customer builds and operates a wide range of monitoring equipment such as radio antennas that are required to operate reliably even in adverse weather conditions. To do so, the antennas are heated and include a fan to prevent the accumulation of snow on the surface of the antenna. During heavy snowfall however, it was repeatedly observed that the fan was not able to remove the snow which caused the signal quality to deteriorate.

Our task was to optimize the snow removal efficiency without changing the instrument too much. The solution should also be applicable to already installed systems.

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ProCap in Cableway Cabins

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3D Flow Field Measurement System on Cable Cars

Who would have thought that the ventilation of cable car cabins would suddenly become important? We put ProCap through its paces with collecting 3D flow data in broad daylight in a moving cable car. And were amazed at how easy it was. Thanks to Dr. Ivan Lunati from EMPA for giving us the opportunity!

Here the press release by EMPA on this joint work. The cooperation led to a publication in scientific journal you can find HERE.

ProCap professional installation at ZHAW

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The ZHAW Centre for Aviation (ZAV) is now operating a ProCap professional system in the wind tunnel and for the field for customer services.

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Validation of the real-time-response ProCap measurement system for full field wake scans behind a yawed model-scale wind turbine

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Jan Bartl et al 2018 J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 1104 012018

DOI 10.1088/1742-6596/1104/1/012018

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ProCap meets Olympic champion Dominique Gisin in the wind tunnel

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Many thanks to 2014 Swiss Olympia champion Dominique Gisin for her time and feedback! Long hair inside or outside the helmet is just one question in sports aerodynamics that can finally be answered with ProCap. There is more to come. Find out in the video below …

ProCap Meets Racing Athletes

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Real-time measurements for sports aerodynamics

After a busy week in the ETH labs…  see how international bike and ski racing athletes improve their performance with ProCap: a 3d flow visualization testing and analytics method developed together with ETH.