/dotx-wind-turbine-controller

Dotx Wind Turbine Controller (DWTC)

Primary LanguageC

Dotx Wind Turbine Controller (DWTC)

Introduction

The Dotx Wind Turbine Controller is an certification-ready controller that is currently used in various types of wind turbines in the field. It minises both fatigue and ultimate loads, while optimizing power output.

The benefits of this controller are:

  • Optimal Power (Power-Velocity curve)
  • Fully coded in ANSI-C, which means it is very easy to deploy on a PLC. Also this allows companies to use git or SVN to work on the software in a team, without chaos.
  • Fully tested in the field and in commercial wind turbines.

DWTC Structure

Controller details

The controller has different control modules/features which can be switched on or off, among which:

  • Optimal power and generator speed control
  • Individual Pitch Control (0P, 1P and 2P) for reducing loads on the nacelle and blades
  • Active tower motion damping to reduce tower fatigue
  • Active drive train damping to reduce fatigue of the drive train
  • Finite-State Machine based supervisory control
  • Extreme wind gust detection and control for ultimate load reduction
  • Model based fault detection (reducing ultimate loads)
  • Additional control features: DotX continues to develop new control features to reduce both DEFL and extreme loads, and improve power production. Please check out our website for an overview of the current ones, and their effect on loads and performance.

Tuning Features

Several tools are available for tuning:

  • Automatic generation of initial tuning settings
  • Offline data analysis tools for fine-tuning, such as FFT
  • Pre-defined notch filters, low pass filters, etc.
  • Optional logging of all internal controller states and signals for improved data analysis
  • Automatic test signal generation for wind turbines in the field, to compare field tests with model tests

Compatibility

The C-code can be compiled for any target. Known compatible PLC's are

  • Bachmann
  • MITA-Technik
  • ...

Compilation

In order to compile the code into a dll on a Windows CPU, please follow the following steps:

  1. Install Minimalist GNU for Windows (MINGW). http://www.mingw.org

  2. For compilation using Makefile, open a MinGW shell and type $ build_mcu.bat

  3. For compilation using Eclipse ..

Testing

To test the controller, please install the Wind Turbine Controller Demo which is set up to run FAST with the DWTC .dll file. Please check this documentation on how to run the Wind Turbine Controller Demo.

Watch the video

Documentation

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License

The DWTC is distributed under the GNU General Public License v3.0.