Semi-Intelligent Wind Turbine
Format
SOECS Senior Project Demonstration
Faculty Mentor Name
Rahim Khoie
Faculty Mentor Department
School of Engineering and Computer Science
Abstract/Artist Statement
The project consists of a wind powered generator designed to charge a large DC battery capable of supplying up to 65 Watts of power to any number of electronic devices. The wind turbine is composed of a used treadmill motor, three 24 inch aluminum blades, and a standard free rotating mount attached to a 6 ft pipe and flat wooden base. The device is equipped with wind direction and speed sensors, as well as a power monitoring and management system. A small microprocessor handles the all of the data acquisition and wirelessly transmits the wind characteristics and power generation in real time over WiFi, as well as logs the data locally onto a microSD card. The purpose of the turbine is to keep the battery safely charged so that an array of sensors may be powered in remote locations. The implemented sensors could monitor a geographical location to determine the feasibility of installing a large scale wind or solar power plant, or perhaps monitor seismic activity. Our wind turbine would be able to power these additional sensors for long periods of time without need for human intervention or the need for individual sensor batteries. This would reduce the energy requirements, potential environmental hazards, and monetary costs associated with large batteries typical of sensor arrays. The wind turbine also has a backup battery system designed to allow for continuous monitoring of wind characteristics should low winds prevail for an extended period of time.
Location
School of Engineering & Computer Science
Start Date
30-4-2011 2:00 PM
End Date
30-4-2011 3:30 PM
Semi-Intelligent Wind Turbine
School of Engineering & Computer Science
The project consists of a wind powered generator designed to charge a large DC battery capable of supplying up to 65 Watts of power to any number of electronic devices. The wind turbine is composed of a used treadmill motor, three 24 inch aluminum blades, and a standard free rotating mount attached to a 6 ft pipe and flat wooden base. The device is equipped with wind direction and speed sensors, as well as a power monitoring and management system. A small microprocessor handles the all of the data acquisition and wirelessly transmits the wind characteristics and power generation in real time over WiFi, as well as logs the data locally onto a microSD card. The purpose of the turbine is to keep the battery safely charged so that an array of sensors may be powered in remote locations. The implemented sensors could monitor a geographical location to determine the feasibility of installing a large scale wind or solar power plant, or perhaps monitor seismic activity. Our wind turbine would be able to power these additional sensors for long periods of time without need for human intervention or the need for individual sensor batteries. This would reduce the energy requirements, potential environmental hazards, and monetary costs associated with large batteries typical of sensor arrays. The wind turbine also has a backup battery system designed to allow for continuous monitoring of wind characteristics should low winds prevail for an extended period of time.