Floating Wind Turbine Motion Control for Stable Rotor Speed

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Solution Overview

Problem

Floating wind turbines experience increased material costs and mechanical fatigue due to amplified floater pitch motion, which interferes with rotor speed control and excites undesired roll motion, leading to instability and poor rotational speed tracking.

Innovation Solution

A Unified-Motion-Control (UMC) system that manages both roll and pitch motions by determining and controlling pitch and roll rotations, using a combination of sensors and a lookup table to minimize floater motion instability and reduce mechanical loads.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Speed

If conventional speed-pitch control is used, then rotor speed regulation is achieved, but floater pitch motion is amplified leading to excessive tower/floater loads

Engineering Contradiction:

Improverotor speed regulationVSAvoidtower/floater loads

Core Design Contradiction:

SpeedVSStrength

Solution Approach 1:

The control system is segmented into multiple independent controllers: a speed controller that regulates rotor speed, a pitch motion controller that suppresses floater pitch oscillations, and a roll motion controller that dampens roll movements. Each controller operates with its own control loop and actuation strategy, allowing independent optimization of speed regulation and motion suppression without mutual interference.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The invention introduces an intermediary control layer that processes sensor signals from gyroscopes and accelerometers to generate corrected reference signals for the speed controller. This intermediary layer filters out the influence of floater pitch motion on speed measurements and generates compensation signals that prevent pitch motion amplification while maintaining speed regulation performance.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Productivity

If blade pitch angle actuation is increased to control rotor speed, then speed control performance improves, but material costs and mechanical fatigue increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvespeed control performanceVSAvoidblade bearing life

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSDuration of action of stationary object

Solution Approach 1:

The invention replaces excessive mechanical blade pitch actuation with an aerodynamic control strategy. By using generator torque control and optimized pitch reference signals that account for floater motion, the system achieves speed regulation with minimal blade pitch angle changes, thereby reducing mechanical wear on blade bearings and extending component life.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

3Stability of the object's composition

If detuning the speed pitch controller is applied to lower bandwidth, then floater pitch motion stability improves, but rotational speed tracking capabilities deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvefloater pitch motion stabilityVSAvoidrotational speed tracking

Core Design Contradiction:

Stability of the object's compositionVSSpeed

Solution Approach 1:

The control system dynamically adjusts its behavior based on operating conditions and floater motion states. The pitch motion controller actively modifies the reference speed signal in real-time based on measured pitch angles and angular velocities, allowing the system to maintain high bandwidth speed tracking while adapting to varying pitch motion conditions without requiring detuning.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

4Measurement precision

If heave motion compensation is applied, then accelerometer and gyroscope measurements improve, but measurement precision may still be affected by roll motion excitation

Engineering Contradiction:

Improverotational speed estimationVSAvoidroll motion interference

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The control system applies different processing strategies to different sensor signals based on their specific characteristics and error sources. Accelerometer signals are processed with heave motion compensation, while gyroscope signals are processed with roll motion filtering. Each measurement channel receives customized filtering and compensation tailored to its specific error characteristics, optimizing overall measurement precision.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Data Source

PatentUS12534166B2Method and device of controlling an operation of a floating wind turbine

Publication Date: 2026.01.27 SIEMENS GAMESA RENEWABLE ENERGY AS

AI summary

A method of controlling an operation of a floating wind turbine which performs a yaw rotation, a roll rotation and a pitch rotation, which controls a parameter of the operation of the wind turbine by determining a pitch rotation; determining a roll rotation; calculating a pitch difference between the determined pitch rotation and a wind turbine pitch reference; calculating a roll difference between the determined roll rotation and a wind turbine roll reference; determining a pitch and roll impact value based on the pitch difference and the roll difference; determining a reference of the parameter based on a predefined reference of the parameter and the pitch and roll impact value; and controlling the parameter of the wind turbine based on the reference of the parameter.