DNV has launched a 12-month research project in partnership with the University of Bristol and Perceptual Robotics aimed at developing automatic inspections of offshore wind turbines.
The project is supported by an Innovate UK grant. It will centre on the verification of wind turbine blade defects utilising autonomous drones and AI-based models developed by Perceptual Robotics, based at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory.
The advanced drones will collect a range of data to provide integrity information about the installed structures without personnel having to access these dangerous locations.
The new project will build on DNV’s long-standing relationship with the University of Bristol. Since September 2016, Dr Ervin Bossanyi, senior renewables researcher at DNV, has been a visiting professor at the University’s Facility of Engineering.
Dr Elizabeth Traiger, a DNV senior researcher in digital assurance, said: “With many inspections still being carried out manually, visual inspection of offshore wind turbines, is expensive, labour intensive, and hazardous. Automatic visual inspections can address these issues. This project should provide a stepping-stone to the growth of the automated inspection industry.”
