Development of a robotic maintenance system for wind turbine blades (ROMAIN)

即使在疫情下，风能行业仍持续快速增长，二零二零年全球风电装机容量估计为93吉瓦。安装后，风力涡轮机预计将运行约20- 25年，在此期间，O&M（操作和维护）对于最大限度地提高风力资产的经济和环境效益至关重要。该项目旨在为陆上和海上风力涡轮机叶片（WTB）的机器人检查和维修开发一个完整的解决方案。首先，我们将热成像和剪切成像与激光加热相结合，从而实现先进的锁定技术，用于WTB内表面和亚表面缺陷的原位检测。（目前的技术，包括基于无人机的技术，仅限于表面缺陷）。其次，将开发一个紧凑高效的机器人部署系统，该系统将容纳检查单元和机器人维修臂。机器人系统将由在地面（陆上风电场）或船上（海上风电场）工作的工程师操作。当检测到缺陷并认为可以修复时，整个系统的修复臂将被激活，通过电阻焊接快速修复复合材料部件的故障区域，以进行连接和/或拆卸。与传统的焊接修复相比，经过优化的电阻焊接工艺将大大减少固化周期/时间，减少表面处理步骤的准备工作，同时更容易与机械臂集成。整个系统将由在地面或船上工作的工程师远程操作，而无需冒着生命危险在空中工作。将在风塔上进行现场试验，以验证该系统。

The wind energy sector continues growing rapidly even under the pandemic, as an estimated 93GW wind capacity was installed in 2020 globally. After installation, wind turbines are expected to run around 20-25years, during which O&M (operation and maintenance) becomes crucial in maximising the economic and environmental benefits of wind assets. This project aims to develop a complete solution for robotic based inspection and repair of wind turbine blades(WTBs), both onshore and offshore. Firstly, we will integrate thermography and shearography with laser heating, so that advanced lock-in techniques will be achieved for in-situ inspection of both surface and subsurface defects within WTBs. (Current techniquesincluding drone-based are limited to surface defects only). Secondly, a compact and efficient robotic deploymentsystem will be developed which will hold the inspection unit and a robotic repair arm. The robotic system will be operated by engineers working on ground (for onshore wind farms) or on a vessel (for offshore wind farms). When defects are detected and deemed reparable, the repair arm of the whole system will be activated to rapidly repair the faulty area of composite components by resistance welding for joining and/or disassembly. Comparing to the traditional adhesively bonding for repair, the proposed resistance welding with optimised processing would significantly reduce the curing cycles/time with much fewer preparation for surface treatment steps while it will be more easily designed to integrate with robotic arm. The whole system will be operated remotely by engineers working on ground or on a vessel without risking their lives working in the sky on WTBs. Field trials on wind towers will be conducted to validate the system.