Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is the design and constructing of a low cost, open source data logger, for connection to small wind turbine applications. The implementation was based on Arduino and Raspberry Pi platforms. For the project needs, a standard board was designed and experiments were conducted for the accuracy of the system regarding AC voltage and current, DC voltage and current and wind speed.

At first, basic characteristics of small turbines are introduced, along with the reasons why this application was chosen. The basics of microcontrollers and microprocessors are considered and the architectures of embedded systems and communication protocols used in the application are presented. Basic concepts about sensors are discussed and measuring techniques of electrical parameters are presented, along with their pros and cons. Moreover, per-processing, sampling and analog to digital conversion are discussed.

Basic aim of the thesis is described with regard to the choice of elements used in the implementation of the data logger (the embedded systems, the sensors and the A/D converters). The procedure of designing the Raspberry Pi’s and Arduino’s boards is presented next. Additionally, the implementation procedure of the software regarding the communication between the embedded systems and the microprocessors is presented, along with the calibration procedure.

Finally, laboratory and field test experiments are thoroughly described, in order to discuss the accuracy of the system and the existing restrains.

Key words: data logger, data acquisition system, sensors, instrumentation, microcontrells, mini computers, open source, low cost, Raspberry Pi, Arduino, energy metering, analog to digital converters, communication protocols, SPI

Author: Konstantinos Karaiskos

Responsible PhD: Athanasios Vassilakis / avassil@mail.ntua.gr and Thomas Pazios / tompaz@mail.ntua.gr

Supervising Professor: Nikos Hatziargyriou / nh@power.ece.ntua.gr

PDF: Full version (Greek) and Short version (English)