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Siemens explores drone inspection with Skyspecs

By: Tom Russell 28/02/2017 Skyspecs

General Windfarms

Siemens is collaborating with US-based company SkySpecs to deploy automated drone technology for offshore and onshore wind turbine inspections. Siemens stated that the goal of the collaboration is to develop a push-button inspection system that is faster, repeatable and more efficient than existing methods.

Siemens is using its Wind Power business and its next47 venture unit, which was established in October 2016, to accelerate the development of new technologies. SkySpecs was founded in 2012 and claims to be the first company to successfully demonstrate fully autonomous wind turbine inspections.

The collaborating aims to refine the technology for utility-scale wind turbine inspections and prepare it for commercial readiness. The joint effort will enable Siemens to incorporate more advanced preventive maintenance techniques, provide significant data that can be used to inform customers about the lifespan of their assets and to gain insights into contributing causes of eventual failures explained SkySpecs. Automated inspections are expected to lower operating costs and potentially increase the efficiency and lifespan of wind turbines, outcomes to which both companies are deeply committed.

According to Siemens Wind Power Chief Technology Officer Ruediger Knauf: "The autonomous drone technology supports our 'Digitalization@Wind' initiative in generating high quality field data about the condition of our wind turbines. This is particularly valuable for our offshore business, where completing inspections quickly, safely and cost effectively is of critical importance. Siemens Wind Power and SkySpecs can mutually benefit from this collaboration via next47, in sharing and co-developing technology and expertise. I am confident that we can bring blade inspection to the next level."

SkySpecs explained that it combines its expertise in robotics, artificial intelligence and machine-based analytics to advance industrial drone inspections. The company's goal is to provide an end-to-end solution that includes data collection, damage identification, classification and recommendations. It stated that that the technology solves one of the top challenges that industrial asset owners and service providers face: generating timely, precise and easy-to-consume inspection data while simultaneously minimizing down-time and personnel-related expenses.

SkySpecs' said that its blade inspections are automated from start to finish which minimises the need to allocate highly trained human resources to the job. The baseline solution allows drones to take off, capture high-resolution images of all four sides of each blade, return and land in under 15 minutes without needing the blades to be stopped in any particular orientation. The captured data is uploaded to the cloud where it can be analyzed, annotated, and shared. Every image is tagged with the data that customers need to locate, annotate and make decisions about timing of blade repairs. The company claims this data inspection and report generation are completed in a fraction of the time it takes to conduct ground-based or rope inspections.

According to SkySpecs CEO Danny Ellis: "We have been working with customers and partners in the wind energy industry to develop the most effortless and technologically sophisticated – yet fully automated – solution on the market. Siemens Wind Power is motivated to improve turbine inspection technology, including data collection and analysis, and have provided us access to their deep resources and expertise. Siemens has an incredibly impressive understanding of both the wind energy markets and autonomous technology, making our partnership a true win-win."

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Siemens explores drone inspection with Skyspecs

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