BLADES & TURBINES
One small step for BladeBUG… WALKING TEST SUCCESS FOR NOVEL INSPECT-AND-REPAIR ROBOT All Photos courtesy of ORE Catapult.
THE LATEST ROUND OF TESTING OF THE BLADEBUG INSPECT-ANDREPAIR ROBOT FOR OFFSHORE WIND TURBINE BLADES HAS SUCCESSFULLY concluded at the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult’s National Renewable Energy Centre in Blyth.
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D
uring the trials in early March, the lightweight robot walked on blade surfaces, proving the stability of its vacuum adhesion technology and its dexterity in adapting its gait to the varying curves of the blades. Ancillary tethers, which would allow the robot to operate for extended periods offshore and enable rapid deployment to and from blades, were proven. With the successful tests, the six-legged blade crawler has now reached a major milestone in its development enabling technical integration
in the ambitious MIMRee system for fully autonomous windfarm operations.
MIMRee
Once integrated in the MIMRee project, BladeBug will operate alongside other robotic and autonomous systems. MIMRee (Multi-Platform Inspection Maintenance and Repair in Extreme Environments) is a EUR 4.8 million consortium project, led by Plant Integrity, that is developing fully autonomous inspection and repair missions
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