ABB technology provides a thrilling indoor skydiving experience
More than one million people a year flock to the Windoor Realfly indoor vertical wind tunnel in Empuriabrava in a tourist community sited in the northernmost part of Spain’s Costa Brava.
The upward flow of air that enables flyers to effectively freefall in the tunnel is provided by four massive electric fans. For all activities in the wind tunnel the speed of response provided by ABB’s variable speed drives is crucial, as Jordi Meseguer, Windoor’s chief technical officer explains: “We have four ABB ACS800 VSDs linked together by a SCADA system that enables them to be controlled by the ‘driver’ who uses a joystick to adjust the wind speed to meet the exact requirement of the flyers inside the tunnel."
“The wind speeds we use vary over a range from 150 km/h up to 300 km/h, which is stronger than a Class 5 hurricane. It is in setting the wind speed that the virtually instant response provided by the ABB drives is essential. This fast response is vital for safety. But it is also vital for our business as our flyers pay by the minute for their time in the tunnel, and they don’t want to waste that time waiting for their flying speed.”
Please check the videos and stories below to learn more about Windoor Realfly and why reliability of ABB technology is crucial for them.