Inside Unmanned Systems provides actionable business intelligence to decision-makers and influencers operating within the global UAS community. Features include analysis of key technologies, policy/regulatory developments and new product design.
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21 unmanned systems inside April/May 2016 ENGINEERING. PRACTICE. POLICY. zoom in on the blade and look for specific areas of damage and highlight areas that might need repair. That's much easier than flipping through a slideshow. That's where we started, and is part of the service we still provide, but the real value is in using these images long term." The long term for these inspections can span years. When Peck and his team perform wind turbine inspections, they identify each turbine by latitude and longitude and take down the serial number from each blade. That informa- tion is used to compare the new images with images from past and future flights. They also have software that measures the size of an anom- aly, which isn't apparent in a close-up picture. Strat Aero and AAIR also provide data man- agement. Strat Aero offers customers a customiz- able data management system, where they have access to any turbine that's been inspected any time they need it, Peck said. They also provide a report that evaluates the photos and makes it easier for owners to decide which repairs to make. A AIR recently developed a cloud-based asset portal that organizes and streamlines critical information for wind turbine owners, Leaverton said. These electronic records are searchable and more actionable for owners. "Data management is where we've seen the biggest struggles with our asset owners," said Leaverton, who uses the Falcon 8 from Ascending Technologies for these inspections. "You need a good data management strategy no matter who is doing the inspection. If you don't have that piece of the puzzle in place you might not get the most out of the inspection." Other Challenges While actually f lying the UAS is typically pret- ty smooth, there are other challenges opera- tors and wind turbine owners need to consider. One of those is battery life, Peck said. Batteries typically need to be changed after 20 minutes, even sooner if you're operating in cold weather and can't keep the battery properly heated. HOW DO WIND TURBINES WORK? Rather than using electricity to make wind, wind turbines use wind to generate electricity. The winds turn two or three blades around a rotor. The turning blades spin a shaft, which is connected to a generator that creates the electricity. Utility scale wind turbines range in size from 100 kilowatts to several megawatts. The larger turbines are more cost effective and are the ones grouped together in wind farms. Source: Energy.gov. BY THE NUMBERS As of early 2015, there were about 270,000 wind turbines operating in the world, with a total of more than 800,000 blades that need assessment. Cumulative global revenue for wind turbine UAS sales and inspection services is expected to reach about Source: Navigant Research " billion by 2024. $ 6 WIND TURBINE AND BLADE INSPECTION SEEMS TO BE THE AREA MOST APT TO CAPITALIZE FROM THIS TYPE OF TECHNOLOGY." Grant Leaverton, AAIR Vice President and General Manager AAIR fies the Falcon 8 from Ascending Technologies to complete wind turbine inspections and fnd damage on the blades owners might not have otherwise seen.