Design and implementation of a new autonomous sensor fish to support advanced hydropower development

Abstract

Acceleration in development of additional conventional hydropower requires tools and methods to perform laboratory and in-field validation of turbine performance and fish passage claims. The new-generation Sensor Fish has been developed with more capabilities to accommodate a wider range of users over a broader range of turbine designs and operating environments. It provides in situ measurements of three-dimensional (3D) linear accelerations, 3D rotational velocities, 3D orientation, pressure, and temperature at a sampling frequency of 2048 Hz. It also has an automatic floatation system and built-in radio-frequency transmitter for recovery. The relative errors of the pressure, acceleration, and rotational velocity were within ±2%, ±5%, and ±5%, respectively. The accuracy of orientation was within ±4° and accuracy of temperature was ±2 °C. The new-generation Sensor Fish is becoming a major technology and being deployed for evaluating the conditions for fish passage of turbines or other hydraulic structures in both the United States and several other countries.

Experimental Observation of Inertial Particles through Idealized Hydroturbine Distributor Geometry

“…(a) Rod: The rod-shaped bead geometry is based on the scaled geometry of the 'Sensor Fish' device [25] which is designed to represent a 100 mm long juvenile fish. The dimensions of the rod were determined using the same 1/12 Froude scaling applied to the blade geometries.…”

A Preliminary Assessment of Barotrauma Injuries and Acclimation Studies for Three Fish Species

“…However, to get an accurate idea of the potential for mortality or injury of fish to barotrauma, it is critical for fish to be tested over a wide range of RPCs so that the range encompasses the threshold where injury or mortality increases and then plateaus. Studies could identify these passage conditions by using a Sensor Fish, an autonomous sensor package, consisting of three-dimensional (3D) rotation sensors (i.e., three-axis gyroscope), 3D linear acceleration sensors (i.e., three-axis accelerometers), a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, and a 3D orientation sensor (i.e., three-axis magnetometer; Deng et al 2014.…”

The Susceptibility of Juvenile American Shad to Rapid Decompression and Fluid Shear Exposure Associated with Simulated Hydroturbine Passage

“…Summary of sample size and fork length for American shad exposed to a range of jet velocities and resulting strain rates or acceleration. Strain rate was calculated using ∆y = 18 mm [30] and acceleration was calculated based on data acquired from Sensor Fish [38] exposed to the same jet velocities and deployment method. Fish were individually exposed to fluid shear by slowly introducing them into the elevated water velocities through an induction tube ( Figure 1).…”