Localisation and Navigation of a robot on an offshore wind turbine blade using intelligent algorithms

BladeBUG, working with Imperial College London and the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, are seeking funding to develop and test an autonomous robot capable of carrying out inspection, maintenance and repair work on offshore wind turbines.

While robots can greatly benefit society, their deployment outside the well-controlled environment of factories and labs remain a challenge. Indeed, engineers cannot foresee every situation that a robot will have to face because everysituation is different. One of the objectives of this proposal is to overcome this challenge by leveraging recent advances in Artificial Intelligence (Machine Learning) to enable robots to autonomously learn how to recover from unexpected situations, like mechanical damage and changes in the surface of a wind turbine blade.

This project will cement the UK's market-leading position as the global leader in offshore wind by addressing a key missing element of the supply chain -- autonomous robotic inspection, maintenance and repair of offshore turbine blades. Furthermore, this innovation, to be manufactured in the North-East of England, will be attractive to a global market as nations seek to derive more of their energy from renewable sources.