CAREER AWARDS
Oumar Barry , an assistant professor of mechanical engineering in the College of Engineering , is using a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development ( CAREER ) award to support fundamental research for a self-powered autonomous robot to prevent electric power line defects .
“ The U . S . power grid is more than 50 years old and there ’ s more than 150,000 miles of it — a lot of it in fairly remote areas ,” said Barry . “ The overhead power lines are exposed to harsh environments and wind-induced vibrations that limit their lifespan .”
Barry ’ s project proposes a multifunctional self-powered autonomous robot ( SPAR ) for intelligent vibration control and monitoring of power lines . But before a robot can be built , there are forces that need to be fully understood .
“ We need a fundamental understanding of nonlinear dynamic interactions between wind forces , vibrating cables , and a mobile robot , and this hasn ’ t been explored yet ,” Barry said . “ The research goal is to create the tools that will enable construction of a SPAR .”
Normally , power lines are fitted with passive vibration absorbers . These are often ineffective because of their narrow frequency bandwidth , and they contribute to fatigue damage in cable strands , which can eventually result in line failure .
“ Inspections of lines are usually done by people on foot patrols or via helicopter-assisted inspection ,” Barry said . “ Both techniques are expensive and dangerous for maintenance personnel . Current inspection robots are starting to be seen but they are bulky , heavy , have a short run time , are energy inefficient , and expensive .”
Barry believes that the research necessary to build a SPAR will provide fundamental breakthroughs at the interface of energy harvesting , fluid-structure interactions , and vibration control . The project will be broken into four tasks :
Construction of a multiphysics model to study wind-cable-robot interactions .
Creation of an effective and adaptive electromagnetic energy harvester to power the SPAR .
Development of a wind-induced vibrations control framework to optimize vibration suppression .
Establishment of a testbed to experimentally investigate the performance of the SPAR .
The term of the award is five years and will be funded at a total of $ 500,000 .
58 SUPERLATIVES • VIRGINIA TECH MECHANICAL ENGINEERING ANNUAL REPORT • 2019-2020