Technical report on the conceptual design process for a wind and temperature sensing drone swarm

Abstract

The goal of this report is to outline the sub-system design of the local sensing system chosen as the final concept in [1], to satisfy the mission need statement: measure the atmospheric conditions with full three-dimensional coverage of a wind farm to optimize its operational performance and control. This statement is derived from the need to improve the control and performance of wind farms through more informed processes and decisions, a task that meteorological masts would usually take on. However, the providable coverage is very low in comparison to the one a UAV based system could provide. UAVs have the potential to significantly increase the measurement coverage around an entire wind farm and in turn return to the user more valuable data. To approach the finding of a solution to this problem, the project was divided into four: planning, concept definition, concept exploration and detailed design. From the first two phases came unique concepts exploring remote and local sensing options, combined with a range of UAV types including hybrid, fixed-wing and rotor. Through a detailed trade-off process and sensitivity analysis, the agreed upon final solution came to be a local sensing concept that makes use of many hybrid drones. In the fourth and final phase, where we now find ourselves, the detailed concept is unpacked and designed into a marketable system that is capable of satisfying the underlying MNS. In this stage the design was split into three design groups: UAV design, ground station design, swarm design.