Wind turbines are expected to run around 20-25 years, during which O&M (operation and maintenance) becomes crucial in maximising the economic and environmental benefits of wind assets. Current maintenance is performed by humans via rope access dangling in the sky along wind turbine blades (WTBs) which is both dangerous and low efficiency, especially for offshore wind. The ultimate solution is a robotic system to avoid the need of humans working in the sky along the WTBs. One of the critical problems is the deployment of the robotic system onto WTBs which should be efficient, reliable, and fail-safe.
At Front we have come up with a new robotic deployment concept which is fundamentally different from existing solutions. With this concept, WTB maintenance equipment is expected to be deployed to WTBs efficiently and reliably. A patent has been filed recently, while proof-of-concept work is under planning.