Aerospace Engineering Students Gain Kudos for Using GPS to Improve Wind Farm Efficiency

11/21/2013 Susan Mumm, AE Media Coordinator

Students use GPS to improve wind farm efficiency.

Written by Susan Mumm, AE Media Coordinator

Students Derek Chen and Dan Jia test their GPS-based wind sensor on a farm near Paxton, Illinois.
Students Derek Chen and Dan Jia test their GPS-based wind sensor on a farm near Paxton, Illinois.
Students Derek Chen and Dan Jia test their GPS-based wind sensor on a farm near Paxton, Illinois.
Derek Chen and AE Assistant Prof. Grace Gao
Derek Chen and AE Assistant Prof. Grace Gao
Derek Chen and AE Assistant Prof. Grace Gao
Knowing which way and how strongly the wind blows is critical in achieving efficiency in energy-producing wind farms. A team of Aerospace Engineering undergraduates arrived upon novel means to maximize wind power by using Global Positioning System technology.

“Because existing methods are very expensive and can be complex to set up, we wanted to demonstrate the capabilities of applying GPS to remote sensing to obtain a more cost-efficient solution for dense wind profile determination,” said team member Derek Chen.

Sale from GPS wind sensor research
Sale from GPS wind sensor research
Sale from GPS wind sensor research

Chen, a senior, teamed with AE junior Dan Jia, and the students gained direction from AE Assistant Prof. Grace Gao and her postdoctoral research assistant, Liang Heng. Chen and Jia’s work, “Distributed Array of GPS Receivers for 3D Wind Profile Determination in Wind Farms,” garnered the best presentation of the session award this fall in Nashville, Tennessee, at the ION GNSS+ conference, the largest conference in the field of GPS.

Explaining their concept, Chen said, “Through the use of precise positioning and relative wind speed sensors, we were able to create a scalable airspeed sensor. Our system was based on first tying a GPS-based wind sensor with an aerodynamic shell to a weather balloon. The aerodynamic shell allows the sensor to constantly point into the wind. Afterwards the balloon will lift the sensor to wind turbine height. Through the movements of the balloon, calculated by differential GPS, as well as the measurements of the pitot tube, we were able to determine an accurate wind profile of the area.”

The team built a prototype sensor and tested the system at a local wind farm in Paxton, Illinois. “The prototype proved the system’s effectiveness,” Chen said.
Having worked with Gao since early this year, Chen said he appreciated the opportunity to attend and present at the ION GNSS+ conference. “This was my first research presentation and thus it was very exciting to attend such a huge conference. In terms of preparation, Professor Gao and her postdoc Liang Heng helped greatly in finalizing the presentation material. In addition, we ran through mock presentations multiple times until I was able to speak comfortably about the research that we did and present it in a clear way.”

“GPS precise positioning and sensing are very important in the fields of navigation and autonomous systems,” Chen said. “This is definitely work that I would want to delve into further. For the long term, I plan on pursuing a graduate degree.”
 


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This story was published November 21, 2013.