Hermes - Wind Energy Harvesting Wireless System for Sensing AoA and Wind Speed

Sharma, S.; Simha, A.; Venkatesha Prasad, Ranga Rao; Gokhale, V.; Narayana, S.

doi:10.1109/LRA.2021.3097499

Hermes - Wind Energy Harvesting Wireless System for Sensing AoA and Wind Speed

Title

Hermes - Wind Energy Harvesting Wireless System for Sensing AoA and Wind Speed

Author

Sharma, S. (TU Delft Embedded and Networked Systems)
Simha, A. (TU Delft Embedded and Networked Systems)
Venkatesha Prasad, Ranga Rao (TU Delft Embedded and Networked Systems)
Gokhale, V. (TU Delft Embedded and Networked Systems)
Narayana, S. (TU Delft Embedded and Networked Systems)

Date

2021

Abstract

In this letter, we present Hermes - a novel, low-cost, wireless, batteryless, energy harvesting system for aerial vehicles for sensing wind speed and Angle of Attack (AoA) concurrently. Hermes comprises a set of piezoelectric films which flutter due to incoming wind and the characteristics of this aeroelastic flutter are utilized for determining the wind speed and AoA of the head-wind. Note that in our work we restrict the notion of flutter to high frequency oscillations due to incoming air flow. Hermes consists of five piezoelectric flags that are mounted on rigid clamps specifically placed at different angles. We designed Hermes to maximize the sensing performance and energy harvesting capability simultaneously, without compromising either accuracy or harvesting efficiency. Our current prototype can harvest the power of 440 $\mu$W on average. Over a wide range AoA from $-10^{\circ }$ to $30^{\circ }$, the estimation of the wind speed is within 0.7 km/h error with 90% probability, and AoA error is within $1.2^{\circ }$ with 90% probability. Since Hermes necessitates no wires and batteries and is a low-cost sensor, it is well suited for a range of UAVs, gliders, and aircraft, which require flexible sensor placement and do not require new wiring, which is often complex in aircraft. Hermes is the first of its kind that exploits piezoelectric energy harvesting to simultaneously sense AoA and wind speed. This work is expected to open up new avenues for interdisciplinary research on embedded computing devices for aerospace applications.

Subject

Aerial Systems: Applications
Aircraft
Embedded Systems for Robotic and Automation
Energy harvesting
Robot sensing systems
Sensor Networks
Sensors
Wind speed
Wind tunnels
Wireless communication