Design a Micro-wind and Solar Energy Harvesting System for a Wireless Sensor Node to Operate in Coastal and Marine Area as a Senior Design Project

Radian G. Belu; Richard Chiou; Lucian Ionel Cioca

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Conference: 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Publication Date: June 23, 2018
Start Date: June 23, 2018
End Date: July 27, 2018
Conference Session: Ocean and Marine Division Technical Session 2
Tagged Division: Ocean and Marine
Page Count: 14
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--30256
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/30256
Download Count: 624

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Paper Authors

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Radian G. Belu Southern University and A&M College

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Dr. Radian Belu is Associate Professor within Electrical Engineering Department, Southern University, Baton, Rouge, USA. He is holding one PHD in power engineering and other one in physics. Before joining to Southern University Dr. Belu hold faculty, research and industry positions at universities and research institutes in Romania, Canada and United States. He also worked for several years in industry as project manager, senior engineer and consultant. He has taught and developed undergraduate and graduate courses in power electronics, power systems, renewable energy, smart grids, control, electric machines, instrumentation, radar and remote sensing, numerical methods, space and atmosphere physics, and applied physics. His research interests included power system stability, control and protection, renewable energy system analysis, assessment and design, smart microgrids, power electronics and electric machines for non-conventional energy conversion, remote sensing, wave and turbulence, numerical modeling, electromagnetic compatibility and engineering education. During his career Dr. Belu published ten book chapters, several papers in referred journals and in conference proceedings in his areas of the research interests. He has also been PI or Co-PI for various research projects United States and abroad in power systems analysis and protection, load and energy demand forecasting, renewable energy, microgrids, wave and turbulence, radar and remote sensing, instrumentation, atmosphere physics, electromagnetic compatibility, and engineering education.

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Richard Chiou Drexel University

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Dr. Richard Chiou is Associate Professor within the Engineering Technology Department at Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA. He received his Ph.D. degree in the G.W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology. His educational background is in manufacturing with an emphasis on mechatronics. In addition to his many years of industrial experience, he has taught many different engineering and technology courses at undergraduate and graduate levels. His tremendous research experience in manufacturing includes environmentally conscious manufacturing, Internet based robotics, and Web based quality. In the past years, he has been involved in sustainable manufacturing for maximizing energy and material recovery while minimizing environmental impact.

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Lucian Ionel Cioca Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu

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Lucian Ionel CIOCA received the M.Sc. in Machine Tools (1993) and B.Sc. in Occupational Safety, Health and Work Relations Management (2010). In 2002, he becomes Dr. Eng. (Ph.D degree) of Petrosani University, Romania and now he is professor at "Lucian Blaga" University of Sibiu - Romania, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Romania. His teaching subjects are Ergonomics, Management, Human Resources Management, Occupational Health and Safety Management, Production Systems Engineering. His research fields of interest are linked with the impact of the knowledge based society upon the social / human dynamics / evolution and the production systems. He regularly publishes and participates on international scientific conferences. Lucian Cioca is the Administrator of the LBUS Department of Consulting, Training and Lifelong Learning, Doctoral Advisor in Engineering and Management, Member of the National Council for Attestation of Academic Titles, Diplomas and Certificates, evaluator ARACIS (The Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education), and other (email: lucian.cioca@ulbsibiu).

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Abstract

Projects are a valuable component of applied sciences and engineering education. The design experience develops student’s lifelong learning skills, self-evaluations, self-discovery, and peer instruction acquired during the project analysis, design, implementation, critique, justification, and testing. Students learn industry-related concepts, skills and methods, to use manufacturer data sheets, technical manuals or application notes, and to specify design requirements. Team experience gives them a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment that is quite often lacking in many engineering courses. In this paper, we are discussing one of our senior design projects. The team proposed to design a robust, reliable and low cost energy harvesting system to power a wireless sensor node. The power harvester system must have a long operation lifetime, by using two photovoltaic panels, a Savonius micro-wind turbine, and backup energy storage unit. The wireless sensor node is intended for monitoring river or coastal water environments, and is equipped with air temperature, pressure, humidity, and solar radiation sensors. The micro-wind turbine is also calibrated as a wind speed sensor. System description, characteristics, and performances are presented in details, as well as aspects of the educational experience, such as project organization, implementation, field tests, and outcomes. Educational project aspects, brainstorming discussions, component selections, system analysis, the estimation of system performances and characteristics, and the adopted design solution are also presented. Final design and system configuration include: power electronics, maximum power point tracking algorithms, control and power management strategies, photovoltaic modules, microcontrollers, and battery selection, micro-wind turbine design and manufacturing, and the overall system tests. The project is a good example of multi-disciplinary design, providing a valuable hands-on experience to the students, project management methods, and finally a working prototype of an energy harvesting systems. The ultimate project goals are to explore and enhance students understanding of the engineering principles, power electronics, control, circuit simulation and analysis, renewable energy technologies, and hands-on demonstration of system prototyping.

Citation
Format

Belu, R. G., & Chiou, R., & Cioca, L. I. (2018, June), Design a Micro-wind and Solar Energy Harvesting System for a Wireless Sensor Node to Operate in Coastal and Marine Area as a Senior Design Project Paper presented at 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--30256

TY - CPAPER
AB - Projects are a valuable component of applied sciences and engineering education. The design experience develops student’s lifelong learning skills, self-evaluations, self-discovery, and peer instruction acquired during the project analysis, design, implementation, critique, justification, and testing. Students learn industry-related concepts, skills and methods, to use manufacturer data sheets, technical manuals or application notes, and to specify design requirements. Team experience gives them a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment that is quite often lacking in many engineering courses. In this paper, we are discussing one of our senior design projects. The team proposed to design a robust, reliable and low cost energy harvesting system to power a wireless sensor node. The power harvester system must have a long operation lifetime, by using two photovoltaic panels, a Savonius micro-wind turbine, and backup energy storage unit. The wireless sensor node is intended for monitoring river or coastal water environments, and is equipped with air temperature, pressure, humidity, and solar radiation sensors. The micro-wind turbine is also calibrated as a wind speed sensor. System description, characteristics, and performances are presented in details, as well as aspects of the educational experience, such as project organization, implementation, field tests, and outcomes. Educational project aspects, brainstorming discussions, component selections, system analysis, the estimation of system performances and characteristics, and the adopted design solution are also presented. Final design and system configuration include: power electronics, maximum power point tracking algorithms, control and power management strategies, photovoltaic modules, microcontrollers, and battery selection, micro-wind turbine design and manufacturing, and the overall system tests. The project is a good example of multi-disciplinary design, providing a valuable hands-on experience to the students, project management methods, and finally a working prototype of an energy harvesting systems. The ultimate project goals are to explore and enhance students understanding of the engineering principles, power electronics, control, circuit simulation and analysis, renewable energy technologies, and hands-on demonstration of system prototyping.
AU - Radian G. Belu
AU - Richard Chiou
AU - Lucian Ionel Cioca
CY - Salt Lake City, Utah
DA - 2018/06/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Design a Micro-wind and Solar Energy Harvesting System for a Wireless Sensor Node to Operate in Coastal and Marine Area as a Senior Design Project
UR - https://peer.asee.org/30256
DO - 10.18260/1-2--30256
ER -