Robots Are Being Deployed To Inspect & Repair Wind Turbines, So We Don’t Have To

In the fight against climate change, more and more nations worldwide are turning to renewable sources of energy, such as harnessing the power of the wind to generate electricity. 

Last September, 55 miles off the coast of Yorkshire, United Kingdom, the world’s largest offshore wind farm—which can power 1.3 million homes all on its own—became fully operational. 

Despite the myriad benefits, just like any other form of technology, wind turbine towers require regular maintenance, and are subject to faults such as oil leaks, damaged blades, or increased wind resistance. 

According to Interesting Engineering, one main challenge of these structures is that the blades of wind turbines are easily eroded. Due to contact with small airborne particles, including ice, snow, and rain, the surface of the blade begins to wear off. 

This results in poorer aerodynamics, causing the turbine to produce less and less energy as time goes on. Hence, regular blade maintenance is one of the most important steps to maintaining the energy output of each project. 

That’s where Aerone’s robots come in and, as per the company, these non-human helpers can save downtime on turbines by four to six times, and reduce the structures’ downtime by five to ten times. 

Overall, the time saved could increase the annual energy production of a single unit by a whopping 12%, saving both the wind farms and their surrounding region tons of dollars in power costs. 

Dubbed the Aerones Wind Turbine Leading Edge Repair Robot, the machine works by making use of a modular toolkit, which allows it to control both vertical and horizontal spaces while examining the blades via cameras and ultrasound scans. 

Different robotic arms can be attached and taken off the robots, according to which maintenance needs are required at the time, and can range from sanding surfaces to removing protective tape or applying protective coating on the blades. 

In addition, the robots double up as cleaning staff, and can wipe down towers and blades by spraying liquid detergent. The dust and grime aren’t just left there either, as the android can collect the contaminated liquid and return it to a filtering station.

[via Interesting Engineering and Aerones, cover image via Aerones]