A team of Purdue University researchers will use a $1.6 million federal grant to advance sensor technology and computer simulation tools for tracking and improving the performance and reliability of "smart" wind turbines and wind farms.

Computer science professors Jan Vitek, Ananth Grama and Suresh Jagannathan, and mechanical engineering professor Douglas Adams received the three-year grant from the National Science Foundation's Division of Computer and Network Systems ( CNS ).

The team's goal is to increase the performance of wind turbines by reducing downtime, improving the predictability of maintenance and enhancing the safety in operational environments.

"Improvements in the productivity and longevity of wind energy -- the fastest growing source of clean, renewable domestically produced energy -- even by a few percentage points will have significant impact on the overall energy landscape and decision making," said Vitek, the project's principal investigator. "Mitigating failures and enhancing safety will go a long way toward shaping popular perceptions of wind farms and accelerating broader acceptance within local communities."

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