The Platform and Overall Design of an Actively Stabilised, Manoeuvrable Buoy for Offshore Wind Assessment

It is estimated that in the EU, energy consumption will rise to 4,350 TWh in 2030. Offshore wind farms can provide a solution. The technical wind energy potential for offshore wind farms of the European waters is estimated to be 30,000 TWh annually. For feasibility studies, building and operating offshore wind farms weather assessments are needed. These assessments used to be performed by expensive static weather stations. Nowadays advanced buoys are also used. An example is the SEAWATCH Wind LiDaR buoy equipped with a ZephIR300 LiDaR, that performs wind estimations based on the back scatter of laser pulses. Buoys are financially much more attractive than static stations, however they still have two main disadvantages: first, measurements are influenced largely by the pitch and roll motions that are created by sea waves. Second, the buoys need to be moved manually. The goal of this project is to design a scaled prototype of the SEAWATCH Wind LiDaR buoy, equipped with an actively stabilised platform and autonomous position control. This thesis focuses on the design of the actively stabilised platform and overall design of the prototype. The platform is designed with two gyroscopes, which are used to measure the angle that needs to be compensated. The compensation for motion takes place through three linear electric actuators which are controlled with a microcontroller. The total buoy is designed to closely match the dimensions of the SEAWATCH Wind LiDaR buoy. After testing the design, it can be concluded that the built prototype can stabilise a maximum angle of 38 degrees within 3,2 s. When stabilised, the maximum deviation angle of the platform is 3,3 degrees. The overall design of the buoy closely matched the scaled dimensions of the SEAWATCH Wind LiDaR buoy. The design is waterproof, floats and is able to sail in desired directions. It is therefore determined that proof of principle for an actively stabilised platform on an offshore buoy is demonstrated. For further development it is recommended to have a larger budget in order to purchase faster actuators. Also the actuators must be able to resist a large amount of side stress to prevent breakage. It is also recommended to reduce the noise influences of the gyroscope and develop a more accurate test setup. Finally it is recommended to design both a self-sufficient power system and to add partial heave control to the platform control.Electrical EngineeringElectrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc