Our first commercial FLS continues to impress
Blue Aspirations deployed its first commercial floating LiDAR system (FLS) in the South China Sea successfully in the second half of 2020. Since then, it has survived the 110 km/h wind speeds of the Langka typhoon with all subsystems continuing to operate perfectly during and after the storm.
The FLS has now been operating stably for more than 9 months and its power supply system, data measurement, data transmission and mooring system, etc. have all shown excellent results. The success of the FLS’s campaign to date exemplifies the system’s quality and reliability for use in commercial projects.
Power Supply System
To mitigate risk, Blue Aspirations incorporates multiple redundant sources of power into its design. The FLS is equipped with solar panels, wind turbines, fuel cells, and other sources, all grouped separately to reduce risks further. Despite experiencing several periods of low wind speed and weak sunshine during its first 9 months of operation, system voltage remained comfortably above the requisite safety threshold.
Data Measurement
The FLS’s wind measurement data availability has also remained excellent throughout the campaign. The data availability for each measurement height is within the range of 98.43% and 99.66% and the total average data availability is as high as 98.9%. Likewise, the coefficients of determination (R2) of wind speed at adjacent heights are all greater than 0.997.
Data Transmission
Since there is no mobile communication signal in the vicinity of the site for the current campaign, the FLS relies on satellite systems for its data transmission. The Beidou Short Message Transmission System (BDTrans) developed by Blue Aspirations ensures 100% data transmission even in the event of a high packet loss rate. During the FLS’s first 9 months in operation, the BDTrans system has exhibited outstanding performance with a data transmission rate of 100%!
Blue Aspirations’ service team tracks FLS movement using a 24/7 remote monitoring system, coupled with a virtual fence to alert the team if the equipment drifts beyond its maximum floating range. Thanks to a well-designed mooring system, however, the FLS remained within its threshold range during its first 9 months.
