BladeBUG Leading Edge Repair Tool

In the last decade, the number of offshore wind turbines in the UK has doubled to over 2,000 active turbines, saving 29 megatonnes of CO2 every year, and producing 10.4GW of power combined. The UK is aiming to raise this to 40GW by 2030\. As power requirements increase, so does the size of turbines and their distance from shore resulting in higher risk and cost of maintenance. Current wind turbines may have blades over 80 m long, and even larger wind turbines are in development.

One of the primary issues that wind turbines face is erosion of the leading edge of the blade, due to high speeds at the tip of the blade. As wind turbines get larger, the blade tip speed increases, escalating erosion. Technicians using rope-access equipment are sent out to repair the damaged edges caused by this, by sanding and applying leading edge protection materials. However, more hazardous environments further from shore and on larger turbines will lead to greater risks to these technicians. This will also result in longer turbine downtime, and more costly repairs, reducing green energy production.

Robotic repair solutions such as BladeBUG can improve safety by removing humans from this hazardous environment. In addition, use of robots and automation can reduce the cost of earlier stage repairs and productivity can be increased via preemptive maintenance before damage impacts performance. This also reduces turbine downtime, as fewer large scale repairs are needed. Repeatable, precise robotic actions will also improve repair efficiency. This project aims to develop a modular tool carrier and tool for sanding the leading edge of turbine blades, enabling the previously developed BladeBUG robot to carry out leading edge repair procedures.

As a result of productivity and efficiency improvements, individual turbines will produce more energy throughout their lifetime, reducing the UK's reliance on fossil fuels as a source of energy. With the planned growth of the UK's wind sector, this will have an even greater effect in the future.