THE CHALLENGE
Wind induced vibrations are a major concern in engineering structures like power lines and suspended cables. Often caused due to inclement weather, the DoE reports weather related annual outage costs were between $18-$33 billion. While conventional methods include fixed passive vibration absorbers, they are not able to adapt to changing wind characteristics and thus don’t work optimally.
OUR SOLUTION
Dr. Oumar Barry and team have developed a self powered robot capable of damping these vibrations and also conduct overhead line inspection. Given the light weight, compact and self-powered design, it can be permanently mounted on the power lines. By sensing the wind characteristics, it is able to slide along the cable to the anti-node to successfully and optimally damp the vibrations.
The design can also be modified for similar applications in suspension bridges, gas pipes, and other difficult to access environments.
(a) Output power of adaptable vs non-adaptable energy harvester, (b) position of the sliding mass with respect to beam length
The self-powered autonomous robot