Romain – Development of a robotic maintenance system for wind turbine blades

风力涡轮机的设计寿命为20-25年。一旦安装，运维(运维)是最大限度地发挥风能资产的经济效益和环境效益的关键。该项目旨在开发一套完整的解决方案，用于风力机叶片(WTBS)的基于机器人的现场检测和修复，包括陆上和海上。首先，我们将开发先进的激光加热光学技术，以便获得WTBS中亚表面缺陷的定量信息。(目前的技术包括基于无人机的技术仅限于表面缺陷)。其次，将开发一个紧凑而高效的机器人部署系统，该系统将容纳检查单元和机器人修复手臂。机器人系统将由在地面(针对陆上风力涡轮机)或在船舶(针对海上风力涡轮机)工作的工程师操作，大大降低他们的风险敞口。当检测到故障并认为可以修复时，整个系统的修复臂将被激活，以便在空中执行工作。将在风塔上进行现场试验，以验证该系统。

Wind turbines are designed to operate for a life time of 20-25 years. Once they are installed, the O&M (operation and maintenance) are the key to maximise the economic and environmental benefits of wind assets. This project aims to develop a complete solution for robot based inspection and repair of wind turbine blades (WTBs) in-situ, both onshore and offshore. Firstly, we will develop advanced optical techniques with laser heating, so that quantitative information of subsurface defects within WTBs can be obtained. (Current techniques including drone-based are limited to surface defects only). Secondly, a compact and efficient robotic deployment system 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 turbines) or on a vessel (for offshore wind turbines), greatly reducing their risk exposure. When defects are detected and deemed reparable, the repair arm of the whole system will be activated to do the job in the sky. Field trials on wind towers will be conducted to validate the system.