WHAT IS a DONEK PIGEON
The Dönek Pigeon is a unique pigeon breed native to Turkey, known for its ability to rotate and adapt its flight instantly to changing wind conditions. By sensing airflow and adjusting its body and wings in real time, it maintains stability even in turbulent air. This remarkable adaptation is the biological inspiration behind WindBenders, shaping how we rethink wind direction and efficiency in urban energy systems.
AND WHAT IS WINDBENDER
The idea behind WindBenders began with observing how Dönek pigeons rotate their wings to remain stable in changing winds. Inspired by this motion, WindBenders is a biomimetic micro wind turbine that adapts its blade geometry to variable urban winds, reducing energy loss and enabling efficient power generation where conventional turbines fail. With its low swept area, the system is designed to minimize environmental impact while operating in compact urban spaces.
WindBenders is a biomimetic urban wind turbine inspired by the hyperbolic wing geometry of rolling pigeons. Hyperbolic geometry creates a smoothly curved, S-shaped surface that expands outward from the centre. Unlike flat, fixed-angle blades, this fluid surface can direct and capture wind from a wide variety of directions, enabling the turbine to maintain high efficiency even in low-speed, rapidly changing urban wind conditions where traditional designs often fail.Prototypes were tested in controlled wind conditions and showed efficiency increases of up to 6.1× compared to traditional three-bladed turbines at high wind speeds. The technical details of this approach, shaped through modelling, prototyping, and testing, are detailed on the technology page.
Urban Wind Optimization
Compact Swept Area
High-Speed Wind Tolerance
Iterative Modeling & Testing
Material-Efficient Structure & sustaınable design
Multi-Directional Wind Capture
RECOGNITIONS- SUPPORTERS
TÜBıTAK Research Projects Competition
Turkey 2nd Place
· Regional Champion (ızmir) (2022–2023)
European Final (Italy)
4th Place Award · Presentation Award (2023)
FIRST LEGO League Competition
Project Presentation(2023)
ATEÅž WIND POWER- SUPPORTER
Expert Validation & Feedbacks
“In this market, even a model that achieves 1.5× efficiency is considered very strong by investors, and WindBenders could go far beyond that.”
Alper Kalaycı
President, ENSIA (Energy Industrialists and Business Association)
“Your model delivers high energy output while also offering greater placement flexibility, which means you can generate significantly more energy from both fronts.”
Türker Murat
Business Development Specialist, AteÅŸ Wind Power
“You’ve developed a truly original technology that clearly stands apart from existing wind turbine designs, both in its approach and its potential impact.”
Efe Bek
Senior Operations Manager