On Thursday 14 June, Postdoc Kasper Reck and Research Assistant Christian Østergaard from DTU Nanotech won the category “Product and Technology” with their invention “Optical Accelerator” at this year’s Venture Cup. The winners of the individual categories in Venture Cup receive 50,000 DKK.
Project description: Reducing maintenance costs of wind turbines is critical in order to reduce the cost of energy of wind power. This is where the optical accelerometer comes in. The optical accelerometer monitors the vibrations from mechanical parts in wind turbines, for example from the gearbox, the generator or the blades. With the optical accelerometer it is possible to detect when a mechanical failure occurs, in for example the gearbox of a wind turbine, on a very early stage and before it evolves into a more complex failure. Major break-downs in the wind turbine can therefore be avoided and a significant reduction in both maintenance cost and production loss can be achieved. Due to the very strong EMF around the generator and the risk of lightning, normal electrical sensors cannot be used in such an environment. You are therefore forced to use optical sensors. The optical accelerometer we have made is based on a new sensing platform which is smaller, lighter, a lot more durable and much more sensitive than existing technology.
Link to Venture Cup article on dtu.dk
Link to venturecup.dk