Increased interest in wireless data collection for environmental and energy applications has developed due to the recent growth in renewable energy power systems. Wireless sensor networks have improved the efficiency and ease of monitoring and reporting of environmental data and system performance from remote locations. This paper describes the development of a wireless sensor network for environmental and energy applications. An array of sensors measuring wind speed, wind direction, temperature, relative humidity and rainfall are present at a remote sensor node. A Libelium Waspmote was used to interface the weather sensors and two Raspberry Pi's were used for pre-transmission processing, data storage and web hosting. XBee-Pro 868MHz RF modules were used for the wireless communication of data between nodes. The system implemented is a robust, flexible platform for wind data sensing, particularly suitable to remote locations where renewable energy plants are often located.

This paper proposes a simple analytical machine sizing process for a three-phase surface mounted permanent magnet synchronous machines appropriate for both system level analysis and preliminary machine design. For system-level analysis, the proposed method can generate candidate machine models, be used to check if proposed performance values for a machine in a system level design problem are feasible or be integrated into a system-level optimization considering power electronics, passives, and machine. In machine design, the advantage of analytical process is it quickly generates candidate designs. These designs can be further refined using more computational intensive methods such as FEA, CFD, and machine design software.

Electric drive systems with long feeder cables connecting inverter and machine are used for oil exploration, mining, remote operated vehicles, industrial, and aerospace applications. Though this topology has the advantage of providing a better operating environment and easier serviceability for the inverter if the machine is located in an inhospitable and inaccessible environment, it does come with its own drawbacks. Steep-fronted switched voltages and cable-machine surge impedance mismatch can lead to high-amplitude, high-frequency (HF) voltage oscillations along the feeder cable, at the machine terminals, and throughout the machine's stator windings. These effects can cause high-electromagnetic interference, corona discharge, insulation failure in the feeder cable and machine's stator windings, common-mode, differential-mode, and bearing currents. This study discusses the HF issues relating to electric drive systems with long cable feeders. HF models for feeder cable and machine to analyse these phenomena are presented. The effects on long feeder cable loading on inverter switching characteristics are discussed. Methods to mitigate high-amplitude and HF oscillations in such systems are shown.

The aviation industry is tending towards more electric aircraft, replacing conventionally pneumatic, hydraulic, and mechanical systems with electrical solutions. The electrification of actuators is motivated by increased efficiency, reduced maintenance and potential mass savings. Special considerations need to be made when designing an aerospace application electric drive system with long feeder cables. For a given actuation requirement, mass and volume need to be minimized while obeying thermal and reliability constraints. Fast switched high dV/dt voltages applied to a cable with poor machine-cable impedance matching can cause high-amplitude high-frequency voltage oscillations, potentially leading to corona discharge, insulation failure, high common-mode, differential-mode currents, bearing currents, and reduced lifetime of system. Mitigation of these voltage oscillations can reduce and/or eliminate the problems associated with it. In this paper, the details of a high-level electric drive system design tool for component sizing and modelling is described. The designed systems mass, volume, thermals, reliability and performance figures are produced. To demonstrate the design tool, the results of a hypothetical 3kW centralized electric drive system case study is presented. A LC inverter filter is used to mitigate long feeder cables.

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