JP2010239912A - Bird-repellent device and wind generator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technique by which birds can be repelled definitely even when solar light can not be utilized. <P>SOLUTION: The bird-repellent device includes a picture-taking part for continuously taking a picture of a prescribed space region, a bird-detecting part for detecting the bird present in the prescribed space region by the image obtained by the picture-taking part, an output part for outputting a detection signal when the bird-detecting part detects the bird, and a near infrared-radiating part for radiating near infrared rays to a part or the whole of a blade of a rotary body having the blade by receiving the detection signal from the output part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a bird evacuation device that facilitates evacuation of birds and a wind power generator equipped with the bird evacuation device.

  As a wind power generator, a propeller type equipped with a plurality of blades that radiate in the vertical direction from the nacelle is often used from the viewpoint of size increase and land use efficiency. A general large-sized propeller-type wind power generator is installed in a tower having a height of about 30 to 80 meters, and the blade length is 20 to 50 meters. Therefore, the highest level reaches 130 meters from the ground.

  Such a height may be the height of a flight of birds that inhabit the vicinity of the place where the wind power generator is installed or a cruise flight of migratory birds. Birds flying at such heights are not able to see the blades that rotate at high speed, and there is an accident (bird strike) that hits the blades and kills them.

  As a technique for preventing such a bird strike, for example, when a bird approaches, a device that outputs a howling sound from a speaker to drive away the bird, or a rotating plate equipped with a magnet and a mirror is rotated to change the magnetic field. And there are devices that threaten and drive away birds by the reflection of sunlight.

  However, when a sound or magnet is used to drive away a bird approaching the wind turbine generator, a problem due to noise or magnetism may occur due to the large area of action. On the other hand, when using sunlight, it is excellent in that the problem described above does not occur even when applied to a bird approaching a wind power generator.

  Patent Document 1 discloses the following technique as an example of a bird hunting apparatus using sunlight. That is, it is a device for clearing the reflected light even in the eyes of distant birds in a wide range and driving away the birds by a plurality of reflection groups formed from a large number of light reflecting pieces that reflect sunlight.

  Birds strike prevention by threatening birds approaching wind power generators using reflected sunlight because the birds are surprised and take retreat action when the reflected light of sunlight enters the eyes of flying birds. It is beneficial to plan.

JP 2003-158984 A

  However, the method using the reflected light of sunlight cannot exhibit the effect because the sunlight cannot be used, for example, at night or when the sun is not emitted, such as in fog or haze. On the other hand, there are birds that fly even at night or in fog or hail, especially when fog is out, birds can not recognize the blades of wind power generators, and bird strikes are likely to occur It is said. Therefore, the technique using sunlight as in Patent Document 1 may not be able to accurately evacuate birds flying at night, fog, or hail.

  Then, an object of this invention is to provide the technique which can evacuate birds accurately even when sunlight cannot be utilized.

  In order to solve the above problems, a typical configuration of the bird evacuation device according to the present invention includes an imaging unit that continuously shoots a predetermined spatial region, and the predetermined spatial region from an image obtained by the imaging unit. Of a rotating body having a blade upon receiving a detection signal from the output unit, and an output unit that outputs a detection signal when the bird detection unit detects a bird. A near-infrared irradiation unit that irradiates a part or all of the blade with a near-infrared ray, and is provided.

  According to the above configuration, some or all of the blades of the rotating body are irradiated with near-infrared rays, so that the sun is emitted to birds that can fly and view near-infrared rays at night or in fog or hail. Even if not, the rotating blade is clearly visible as in the near-infrared photograph. For this reason, it is possible to prompt birds who can see near infrared rays to recognize the blade accurately and avoid the blade. Therefore, even when the sunlight is not sufficiently used at night, such as in fog or hail, birds can be accurately evacuated.

  The light source of said near infrared irradiation part is good in near infrared LED. Here, the near-infrared LED is a light-emitting diode that emits near-infrared light having a wavelength of about 700 nm to 2500 nm. Near-infrared LEDs have a sufficient amount of light and have low power consumption. It is also relatively inexpensive. Furthermore, since the lifetime is long, it is possible to omit maintenance, which is excellent as a light source. In particular, the high-brightness one is effective for allowing birds to visually recognize.

  You may comprise as a wind power generator provided with the bird escape device concerning this invention. A typical configuration of such a wind turbine generator is a wind turbine generator that includes a tower standing on the ground, a nacelle fixed to the tower, and a plurality of blades that are rotatably fixed to the nacelle via a rotor head. An image capturing unit that continuously captures a predetermined space area set in advance around the wind turbine generator, and a bird that exists in the predetermined space area is detected from an image obtained by the image capturing section. When the birds detection unit detects the birds, the bird detection unit receives a detection signal from the output unit outputting the detection signal and the output unit, and irradiates a part or all of the blade with near infrared rays. A near infrared irradiation unit.

  According to the above configuration, the rotating blade is clearly visually recognized by the birds approaching the wind power generator and can see the near infrared rays. For this reason, it is possible to prompt birds who can see near infrared rays to recognize the blade accurately and avoid the blade. Therefore, even when the sunlight is not sufficiently used at night, such as in fog or hail, birds can be accurately evacuated.

  Said near infrared irradiation part is good to be installed in the above-mentioned rotor head. Since the rotor head rotates integrally with the blade, the near-infrared ray can be accurately irradiated to a part or all of the blade by installing the near-infrared irradiation unit on the rotor head. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the blade by accurately recognizing the blade with respect to the bird approaching the wind power generator and capable of seeing near infrared rays.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to accurately evacuate birds even when sunlight is not available.

It is a whole view for demonstrating the bird evacuation apparatus and wind power generator concerning this embodiment. It is a side view for demonstrating the state which installed the near-infrared irradiation part in the rotor head.

  Exemplary embodiments of a bird evacuation device and a wind power generator according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an overall view for explaining a bird evacuation device and a wind power generator according to the present embodiment. The bird evacuation device 10 includes an imaging unit 11 that continuously captures a predetermined spatial region, a bird detection unit 12 that detects a bird (bird) existing in the predetermined spatial region from an image obtained by the imaging unit 11, When the bird detection unit 12 detects a bird, an output unit 13 that outputs a detection signal, and a near-infrared irradiation unit 14 that receives a detection signal from the output unit 13 and irradiates a part or all of the blades with near-infrared rays. And. In the present embodiment, a Fresnel lens 15 that expands or diffuses near infrared rays from the near infrared irradiation unit 14 is provided.

  A general propeller-type wind power generator 20 includes a tower 24 standing on the ground, a nacelle 23 installed on the tower 24, and a plurality of blades that freely rotate with respect to the nacelle 23 via a rotor head 22. 21.

  When a bird flying close to the wind power generator 20 enters the area captured by the imaging unit 11 and is detected by the bird detection unit 12, it receives a detection signal from the output unit 13, and receives a near-infrared irradiation unit 14. The near-infrared rays are irradiated to a part or all of the blade 21. By irradiating near-infrared rays, the blade 21 is clearly visually recognized by birds that can see near-infrared rays. Therefore, the bird who can see near infrared rays can recognize the blade 21 accurately, and it is possible to prevent an accident such that the bird 21 comes closer to the wind power generator 20 and collides with the blade 21 of the wind power generator 20.

For the imaging unit 11, for example, a camera (CCD camera) including a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) imaging element is used. CMOS (Complementary
(Metal Oxide Semiconductor) A camera equipped with an image sensor may be used. The CCD camera images the target area at a frequency of 30 frames per second, for example.

  For the bird detection algorithm of the bird detection unit 12, for example, a particle image velocity (PIV) method or an optical flow method can be used. In the PIV technique, a bird can be detected as a particle, and the bird can be detected from the movement of the particle in the image captured by the imaging unit 11. In the optical flow method, the velocity vector at each position coordinate in the image captured by the imaging unit 11 is calculated, and for example, when a predetermined reference value is exceeded, it can be determined that the bird is a bird. It is also possible to create a database in which the characteristics of birds are created, and to detect birds depending on whether or not an object in the image matches a bird in the database.

  The near infrared irradiation unit 14 includes a power source (not shown) and a light source, and power is supplied from the power source to the light source. For example, a near infrared LED is used as the light source of the near infrared irradiation unit 14. The near-infrared LED may be a single item or a ring-shaped assembly. In the case of a ring-shaped assembly, directivity can be enhanced by devising the arrangement of near-infrared LEDs. The near-infrared wavelength irradiated by the near-infrared LED may be selected from about 700 nm to 2500 nm. For example, light emitting diodes with wavelengths of 735 nm, 808 nm, and 940 nm are commercially available and can be easily obtained.

  When irradiating near-infrared rays over a wide range, near-infrared LEDs may be arranged on a spherical surface in order to spread light, or as shown in FIG. May be arranged. When the Fresnel lens 15 is disposed, a lens that is relatively thinner than a normal lens can be used, so that the weight of the lens can be reduced and the cost can be reduced. If the Fresnel lens 15 has a negative focal length (for example, about −50 mm) after passing through the Fresnel lens 15, near infrared light can be diffused in a predetermined plane.

  In addition, when it is not possible to detect a bird based on an image captured by the imaging unit 11 at night, fog, or haze, near infrared irradiation may be performed at an appropriate time interval. For example, by irradiating the blade 21 with near-infrared rays at intervals of 10 minutes, the blade 21 can be accurately recognized by a bird that can see the near-infrared rays without greatly reducing economic efficiency, and further approach to the wind power generator 20 is prevented. Can do.

  FIG. 2 is a side view for explaining a state in which the near-infrared irradiation unit is installed on the rotor head. The near-infrared irradiation unit 14 is installed on the rotor head 22, and rotates near the blade 21, while receiving near-infrared light from the root of the blade 21 to a part or all of the blade 21 according to a bird detection signal from the output unit 13. Irradiate. As shown in FIG. 2, by installing as many near-infrared LEDs (near-infrared irradiation units) 14 as the number of blades 21, it is possible to accurately irradiate the blade 21 with near-infrared rays, and the bird that can see near-infrared rays. Visibility can be improved.

  Near-infrared irradiation may be performed by irradiating a range of about 先端 from the tip of the blade 21. Looking at the carcasses of the birds that collided with the blade, there were many that were cut at a sharp angle, and it was imagined that they collided near the blade tip. Therefore, if the vicinity of the tip of the blade 21 is irradiated with near-infrared rays so that a bird that can see the near-infrared rays can accurately recognize the blade 21, the effect of preventing a collision accident with the blade 21 can be enhanced.

  In the case of irradiating the blade 21 with near-infrared rays from the front, the near-infrared ray irradiating unit 14 may be installed in the tower 24, for example. Moreover, the near-infrared irradiation part 14 can be installed in the nacelle 23 and the blade 21 can be irradiated with near-infrared rays from the rear.

  In a wind farm composed of a plurality of wind power generators 20, there are reports that many accidents collide with the wind power generators 20 installed at the outer edge of the wind farm. It is particularly effective to irradiate the blade 21 of the power generation device 20 with near infrared rays.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used for a bird evacuation device that promotes the evacuation of birds and a wind turbine generator that includes the bird evacuation device.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Bird evacuation device 11 ... Imaging part 12 ... Bird detection part 13 ... Output part 14 ... Near-infrared LED (near-infrared irradiation part)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15 ... Fresnel lens 20 ... Wind power generator 21 ... Blade 22 ... Rotor head 23 ... Nacelle 24 ... Tower

Claims (4)

An imaging unit that continuously captures a predetermined spatial region;
An avian detection unit that detects the birds present in the predetermined spatial region from the image obtained by the imaging unit;
An output unit that outputs a detection signal when the bird detection unit detects a bird;
A near-infrared irradiation unit that receives a detection signal from the output unit and irradiates a part or all of the blade of the rotating body having the blade with a near-infrared ray;
A bird evacuation device comprising:   The bird evacuation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a light source of the near infrared irradiation unit is a near infrared LED. A wind power generator comprising a tower erected on the ground, a nacelle fixed to the tower, and a plurality of blades fixed to the nacelle via a rotor head so as to be rotatable,
An imaging unit that continuously captures a predetermined space area set in advance around the wind turbine generator;
An avian detection unit that detects the birds present in the predetermined spatial region from the image obtained by the imaging unit;
An output unit that outputs a detection signal when the bird detection unit detects a bird;
In response to a detection signal from the output unit, a near infrared irradiation unit that irradiates a part or all of the blade with a near infrared ray, and
A wind turbine generator comprising:   The wind power generator according to claim 3, wherein the near-infrared irradiation unit is installed in the rotor head.

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