SENSE2SAVE

Project short description:

Due to the growing shift to renewable energy, the number of wind turbines has increased significantly in recent years. While this development is beneficial for the future of humanity, it complicates the living conditions for certain bird species, espacially for bats. As a result, fatal collisions between bats and the rotor blades of wind turbines are becoming common.

To resolve this dilemma between climate protection and species conservation, the project SENSE2SAVE was initiated. The goal of the project is the development of a sensor system that will be mounted onto the wind turbine's tower. With sensors like ultrasonic microphones and radar, this system is capable of sensing the movement of bats around the wind turbine. Finally, countermeasures can be implemented to protect the lives of the bats.

As radar specialists, IMST is taking over the task of designing a 35 GHz radar for this project and is looking forward to presenting a new radar demonstrator in its portfolio.

Duration: December 2023 ... November 2026

Project partners:

InnovationLab GmbH (Coordinator)
IMST GmbH
Institut für Tierökologie und Naturbildung GmbH
University of Siegen
Zentrum für Sonnenenergie- und Wasserstoff-Forschung Baden-Württemberg
JUWI GmbH (associated partner)

SENSE2SAVE (Image by partner University of Siegen)

Development Phase:

The following two aspects must be considered in the development phase of the radar:

High Signal-to-Noise Ration (SNR): It takes some time to initiate the countermeasures when bats are detected. Therefore, the bats must be identified at an early stage, ideally when they are still more than 150 meters away. Additionally, bats are not very reflective (low RCS) which underlines the importance of this point even more. Therefore the antenna as well as the circuit need to be optimized for high SNR.
Large Field of View (FOV): To cover a big area around the wind turbine, the antenna pattern is an important parameter for this application.

The available frequency bandwidth from 33.4 to 36 GHz does not match typical standards for radar applications. This is why no integrated radar chip is commercially available. IMST therefore had to develop the radar frontend using components off the shelf (COTS). Fortunately, IMST already has experience in this frequency range from previous projects, which was benefitial in the development phase, e.g. Profi-Wind 35 GHz Radar. The frontend, which consists out of all the RF parts, like antennas, RF transitions or signal generation, is then connected to the backend, which controls the radar and provides the data to the user. The image below shows the first demonstrator of the 35 GHz radar for this project:

First demonstrator of the 35 GHz Radar for SENSE2SAVE

The developed frontend provides all major specifications, which are essential to this project:

Antenna: There are 2 transmitting antennas and 4 receiving antennas on the frontend. In MIMO-configuration, 8 MIMO-Channels can be used for target detection, allowing a fine resolution in the azimut direction. In combination with the broad antenna beam in azimut, a large area can be monitored in detail around the wind turbine.
SNR: An antenna gain of 14 dBi in combination with a Tx Signal Power of 27 dBm allows the radar to detect targets with very low RCS in the vicinity of the wind turbine.
Bandwidth: The bandwidth is set to 500 MHz in this project, allowing a maximum coverable range of 300 meters with 1024 range bins.

Next project steps:

After the development phase of the radar, the next step is to evaluate its performance in real test environments. Especially the sensibility of the radar is an import point to monitor.

We will keep you informed about all the major milestones of this project on this page, so be sure to check back regularly for updates!

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