Initial Human-Centered Design of a Fully Integrated Numeric Environment for CRAFT Offshore Wind Turbines

World Wide Wind is, in collaboration with the Department of Electrical Engineering at Uppsala University, developing the Counter Rotating Axis Floating Tilted (CRAFT) offshore wind turbine, which is a new type of wind turbine designed for operation at deep-sea. In order to facilitate the development of CRAFT turbines, a Fully Integrated Numeric Environment (FINE), in which the CRAFT turbines can be simulated and designed, is being developed. This thesis aims to initiate and lay a foundation for the design of this FINE. The purpose of the thesis is to define the user groups and their requirements of the FINE, and to explore how the FINE can be designed to satisfy these requirements. For this, the Human-Centered Design (HCD) approach is used. The main outcome is the definition of three user groups and corresponding user modes: Turbine Researchers and Designers using Design Mode for detailed simulation and design of the turbines, Technical and Product Management using Customer Mode for demonstrating an overview of the turbines to customers, and Utility using SCADA Mode for monitoring the turbines in operation. The design presented in this thesis consists of a lo-fi prototype and a requirement specification, both of which were evaluated and updated iteratively as part of the design process. User evaluations suggest that this design is satisfactory overall and provides a foundation for the future design and implementation of the FINE. The future design process should be conducted by a multidisciplinary design team, and should continue following the HCD approach. The next steps of the design process should include hi-fi prototyping and further specification of the requirements of the Utility user group.