Vaavud, a device for measuring wind using a cell phone, has recently been introduced on Kickstarters. Launched just 10 days ago, on March 18th, its getting closer to its final goal – raising £20,000 in funding.
The device is especially appealing to surfers, sailors, paragliders, model aircraft pilots, and basically anyone who wants to know precise and reliable measurements of wind right there, on a spot. Vaavud is helpful for trip planning, choosing appropriate gears and notifying your friends about the weather conditions.
Vaavud operates without electronics and connects wirelessly to iOS or Android-based phones. The device has two small magnets in the rotor. Their rotation is detected by the phone’s magnetic field sensor and than converted to the wind speed, using algorithms normally applied in sound processing. Vaavud also offers a feature of sharing wind measurements online and accessing live wind readings from other users on a map. The device has been tested and calibrated in a wind tunnel at The Technical University of Denmark.