Reliability is the most important feature of any floating Lidar system and is a core tenet of Blue Aspirations’ design philosophy. Drawing on our team’s expertise in design principles from the telecommunications industry, the system emphasizes redundancy in its key components. The commercial model was also iteratively designed using simulations to model failure paths and eliminate single points of failure. Key examples of how these principles are embodied in the floating Lidar system include:
Since the motion of the buoy affects LiDAR wind direction and wind speed measurements, Blue Aspirations’ system is equipped with a motion sensor to acquire high-resolution pitch and roll data, and heading and DGPS sensors to obtain accurate heading information. Our patented algorithm then uses a projection method to correct the LiDAR wind speed data to the appropriate horizontal plane. By calculating the LiDAR installation angle offset from the heading sensor’s true north, the system is likewise able to transform the collected wind direction data to the correct angle.
Modules | Details |
Buoy |
-Diameter: 5m -Height: 9m -Weight: 14.5t -Net Buoyancy: 10.5t -Structure: multiple cabinets -Materials: PE, carbon steel, stainless steel |
Mooring System |
-Water-depth: >5m -Anchor: cement block and/or mooring anchor -Mooring: one-point mooring -Adjustable to suit site-specific requirements including deep water-depth -Multiple mooring system is also available |
Control System |
-Industrial PLC -or BA's embedded controller |
LiDARs |
-LiDARs: Dual LiDAR(default) (Windcube offshore version; ZX 300M, Movelaser B300M) |
Power Supply |
-Battery Capacity: total 60kwh in multiple groups; -Wind Turbines: 2×350W; -Solar Panels: 1600W, multiple groups; - Fuel cells: 2x110W with 224L fuel(optional) |
Navigation System |
-AIS×1 -Radar reflector×2 -IALA-compliant navigation ligh1×-1 Supporting dual navigation light but Need to meet the requirement of local authority |
Positioning System |
-Directions: 0-360° -Direction accuracy: 0.09° (2m baseline) -Positioning accuracy: 0.5m (horizontal, SBAS mode) |
Motion Sensors | -GNSS-INS sensor×2 or GNSS-INS sensor×1 and MRU sensor×1 |
Communication Systems |
-SAT Modules: Iridium SBD×1, other Broadband SAT data modules (optional); -Mobile Networks: 2G/3G/4G×1; 2.4G/5G Wi-Fi×2; Local Ethernet connection |
Data Acquisition |
-Dual Industrial PCs -Interfaces: serial×6, Ethernet×2 |
Hydrological sensors (optional) |
-Doppler current sensor -Wave sensor and water depth sensor -Water salinity and temperature sensor |
We would like to include in this document a summary of the reports from our clients or from third parties nominated by our clients that support our data accuracy and data availability claims.
A summary of the main results is provided below.
Client | Project Name | Buoy and LiDAR Model | Reference | Issuer of the report | Time | Main findings |
Blue Aspirations |
Carbon Trust OWA Road map Stage 2 Verification (Dundee, Scotland) |
BA-FLS-NX5, ZX 300M x 1; Windcube offshore V2 x1
|
Offshore Met Mast Inch Cape
|
Oldbaum Services from the UK (3rd-party certifier ). DNV will review the final report |
2023.3 - 2023.9 |
Interim Stage 2 Assessment Report for Windcube: Duration: 77days; System availability: 100% Data availability: >99.2% for all measurement heights Data accuracy(Wind speed): >2m/s: R2 > 0.991, Slope: 0.995~1.001 4~16m/s: R2 > 0.985, Slope: 0.988~1.001 Data accuracy(Wind Direction): 91m: R2 >0.998, Slope: 1.003, 101m: R2 >0.998, Slope: 1.003, 111m:R2 >0.998, Slope: 1.003, |
China Three Gorges |
Yangjiang, Guangdong |
BA-FLS-NX5, ZX 300M |
Offshore Met Mast |
Blue Aspirations |
2021 |
Duration: 2 months; System availability: 100% Data availability: >99.98% for all measurement heights Data accuracy(Wind speed): >2m/s: R2 > 0.9959, Slope: 0.9964~1.0096 4~16m/s: R2 > 0.9921, Slope: 0.9986~1.0122 Data accuracy(Wind Direction): 50m: R2 >0.9987, Slope: 1.0125, Offset:-1.9075 100m: R2 >0.9986, Slope: 1.0198, Offset:-1.4955 |
China Three Gorges |
Yangjiang, Guangdong |
BA-FLS-NX5, Molas B300M |
Offshore Met Mast |
Shanghai Institute |
2022 |
Duration: 2 months; System availability: 100% Data availability: >98.5% for all measurement heights Data accuracy(Wind speed): >2m/s: R2 > 0.99, Slope: 1.00~1.01 4~16m/s: R2 > 0.99, Slope: 1.00~1.02 Data accuracy(Wind Direction): R2 > 0.97, Slope: 1.03, Offset: -1.3 |
Blue Aspirations |
Prototype validation, Zhoushan, nearshore |
BA-FLS-2.4, ZX 300M |
Fixed ZX 300M |
DNVGL | 2019 |
Duration: 1 month; System availability: 100% Data availability: >97% for all measurement heights Data accuracy(Wind speed): >2m/s: R2 > 0.994, Slope: 0.994~1.003 Data accuracy(Wind Direction): R2 > 0.999, Slope: 0.998-1.002, Offset: -0.83~0.04 |
Huarun |
Cangnan, Zhejiang |
BA-FLS-NX5, ZX 300M |
Offshore Met Mast |
Huarun | 2020 |
Duration: 1 month; System availability: 100% Data availability: >96.24% for all measurement heights except 120m (Note: 91.31%, several foggy days) Data accuracy(Wind speed): >2m/s : R2 > 0.9918, Slope: 0.9889~1.0283 4~16m/s: R2 > 0.9851, Slope: 0.9851~0.9938 Data accuracy(Wind Direction): R2 > 0.9981, Slope: 0.9826~0.9961, Offset: -0.758~1.4559 |
Shanghai Institute |
Nanhui, Shanghai |
BA-FLS-NX5, ZX 300M |
Fixed platform ZX 300 |
Blue Aspirations |
2020 |
Duration: 2 months; System availability: 100% Data availability: >99.7% for all measurement heights Data accuracy(Wind speed, >2m/s and 4~16m/s): R2 > 0.97, Slope: 0.98~1.02 Note: the platform LiDAR has a fatal issue with wind direction thus Wind direction is not compared |
Power China |
Shantou |
BA4.1S, ZX 300M |
2020 |
Duration: 2 months; System availability: 100% Data availability: >99.0% for all measurement heights |