RU uses solar and wind FPGAs for research in remote areas
In scientific research in the Chilean Atacama Desert, Radboud University will process data from telescopes via fpga units that obtain power from wind and solar energy. The university has developed special containers for this with partners.
The sustainable energy supply and data processing modules are part of the Hipersense system, which includes a container, 133 solar panels and a windmill. The Hipersense units are easy to move and can also be easily connected to the mains or source energy from other renewable resources, such as hydropower. In addition, a generator and battery are present. The intention is that the systems will not only be used for scientific research, but will also play a role in emergency hospitals, festivals, defence, smart grid applications and telecom providers.
Radboud University will initially use them for the BlackGEM project. Hipersense is responsible for the energy supply and data processing of three optical telescopes. These telescopes should identify gravitational waves, ripples in spacetime caused by the mergers of black holes and neutron stars. “We use diesel generators on a remote mountaintop in the Atacama desert in Chile, while there is continuous sun and wind in abundance. A few years ago I thought: there must be another way,” says Paul Groot, head of the Radboud University Astronomy Department. against Tweaker.
He then took the initiative to bring parties in the province of Gelderland together. “The project has had a lead time of 2 years. The costs were 600,000 euros, 40 percent of which was borne by the province through the European Regional Development Fund. Ultimately, we hope Hipersense is not only in Chile but also, for example, for climate research on the North Pole. Or think of research at atolls, you really don’t want to work with diesel generators there.”
The intention is that modules from the company Incaa will be used for the calculations. They contain a Xilinx soc with Artix-7 fpga and two Cortex A9 cores with a clock speed of 667MHz. In addition, 512MB of memory and as much flash storage is available, as well as two gigabit Ethernet interfaces, USB 2.0 and support for GPS and 3G. The consumption is 4W and the module could deliver 3.2 megaflops of computing power. Multiple modules can be placed in the Hipersense unit. “The challenge is to get as much of the image data from the BlackGEM array of telescopes as possible to be processed by the programmable chips,” says Groot. “Other systems with Intel CPUs, for example, can also be used, but then your consumption increases and you don’t want that.”
In order to store energy and to be able to continue to supply power at night, the Hipersense has 55 batteries of 12V/200Ah connected in series, which provide an energy buffer of 72kWh. “These are lead-crystal batteries, which were chosen because of their long life,” says Ronald Haasdijk, who is involved with Hipersense as project leader at Pasman Motoren & Aggregaten. “In addition, they can withstand high and low temperatures and you don’t have to ventilate them.”
The 133 solar panels of 1.6m2 each provide a maximum power of 260W. The windmill with a diameter of 1.95 meters serves as a supplement. This has an efficiency of 1200kWh per year, with a maximum in windy areas of 2800kWh. Inland it is more likely to work out at 300 to 500 kilowatt hours. In the event of an emergency, it is possible to fall back on a generator present in the container that supplies a maximum of 20 kW. That turned out to be no superfluous luxury: the generator had to be switched on at a planned demonstration Friday at Industrial Park Kleefse Waard in Arnhem. The solar panels were damaged during the autumn storm last week and therefore not connected.