A VERSATILE TECHNICALLY ACCESSIBLE WIND TURBINE CONTROLLER

TWO BROAD DEFICIENCIES IN CONTROLS ARE APPARENT IN THE WIND INDUSTRY. THE FIRST IS THAT A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF ADVANCED WIND TURBINE DESIGNERS SIMPLY DO NOT HAVE CONTROLS THAT ARE ADEQUATE TO COMPETE IN THE WIND INDUSTRY. THIS IS UNDERSTANDABLE SINCE THE STRENGTHS OF MOST WIND TURBINE DESIGNERS FALL IN THE AREA OF MACHINES, STRUCTURES, AND AERODYNAMICS. THE SECOND IS THAT MOST WIND TURBINE CONTROLLERS DO NOT USE THE MOST ADVANCED CONTROL TECHNIQUES, SUCH AS RULE-BASED ALGORITHMS, EXPERT SYSTEMS, AND FUZZY LOGIC, NOR DO THEY CONTAIN THE MOST UP-TO-DATE DIGITAL CONTROL COMPONENTS, SUCH AS APPLIED SPECIFIC INTEGRATED CIRCUITS, DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSORS, AND FIELD PROGRAMMABLE GATE ARRAYS. SPECIFIC PROBLEMS INCLUDE (1) A COST SEVERAL TIMES MORE THAN IT SHOULD BE, (2) INSUFFICIENT SPEED AND COMPLEXITY FOR CURRENT AND FUTURE REQUIREMENTS, (3) DOUBTFUL RELIABILITY, (4) AWKWARD INTERFACES WITH A SYSTEM CONTROL AND DATA ACQUISITION (SCADA) SYSTEM, AND (5) THE INABILITY OF THE TURBINE SUPPLIER TO SUPPORT HIS PRODUCT ADEQUATELY BY BEING ABLE TO UNDERSTAND AND ADAPT THE CONTROLLER. THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP A RELIABLE, RESPONSIVE, LOW COST, FULLY INTEGRATED CONTROL SYSTEM FOR ADVANCED WIND TURBINES THAT CAN BE UNDERSTOOD AND MODIFIED BY A SINGLE CONTROL ENGINEER WITH GENERALLY AVAILABLE SKILLS. THE CONTROL SYSTEM WILL CONTAIN THE MOST ADVANCED CONTROL CONCEPTS AND THE MOST ADVANCED DIGITAL CONTROL HARDWARE. IN PHASE I, THE FIRST STEP WILL BE TAKEN TOWARD THIS OBJECTIVE BY DESIGNING THE HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE STRUCTURE OF THE SINGLE TURBINE CONTROL AND A COMPATIBLE SCADA SYSTEM. IN PHASE II, THESE WOULD BE ASSEMBLED AND TESTED IN THE FIELD ON AT LEAST TWO OPERATING, ADVANCED WIND TURBINE DESIGNS.