Siemens and SkySpecs Fine-Tuning Flying Blade Inspectors

Siemens is collaborating with US-based company SkySpecs to deploy automated drone technology for onshore and offshore wind turbine blade inspections.

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 involving 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 is the first company to demonstrate fully autonomous wind turbine inspections.

SkySpecs enables wind farm owners, ISPs, and OEMs to monitor and track the health of their wind turbines with a 15-minute automated robotic inspection. The single push of a button launches a drone, which surveys all sides of three blades, collecting high-resolution images that identify cracks, erosion, lightning strikes and other anomalies. Data is sent to a web portal for viewing, annotating, and reporting.

Siemens is collaborating with SkySpecs to refine its technology for utility-scale wind turbine inspections and prepare it for commercial readiness. The joint effort is expected to enable Siemens to incorporate more advanced preventive maintenance techniques using SkySpecs’ technology.

“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,” Siemens Wind Power Chief Technology Officer Ruediger Knauf said.