A demonstration from Tethys Energy Services and Aerones has won a grant in a blade robotics innovation competition organised by the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, GE Renewable Energy and the Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN). Tethys and Aerones have developed a new offshore transportation and delivery system for onshore wind robotics technology to work offshore.GE will offer technical support and guidance on how to deploy the technology on offshore projects. The robot can provide remote inspection, maintenance and repair tasks on offshore wind turbine blades. The companies will now demonstrate the prototype technology on ORE Catapult’s 7MW Levenmouth Demonstration Turbine. KTN and ORE Catapult used the Offshore Wind Innovation Hub’s Innovation Exchange (OWiX) to search for expertise robotics industry for GE. Robotics could cut offshore wind inspection costs by almost 40% by integrating remote operations, robotics and automated systems into operations and maintenance activities, according to research from ORE Catapult.
