Online estimation of wind turbine blade deflection with UWB signals

In this paper we use ultra-wideband (UWB) signals for the localization of blade tips on wind turbines. Our approach is to acquire two separate distances to each tip via time-delay estimation, and each tip is then localized by triangulation. We derive an approximate maximum a posteriori (MAP) delay estimator exploiting i) contextual prior information and ii) a direct-path approximation. The resulting deflection estimation algorithm is computationally feasible for online usage. Simulation studies are conducted to assess the overall triangulation uncertainty and it is observed that negative correlation between the two distance estimates is detrimental for the tip localization accuracy. Measurement data acquired in an anechoic chamber is used to confirm that the UWB-hardware complies with the desired/relevant ranging accuracy. Finally, measurement data obtained from a static test bench is used to demonstrate that the approximate MAP-based localization algorithm is able to outperform standard methods.