How autonomous drones, AI and big data shape the future of blade O&M
In the past, turbine inspection crews have relied on various tools to get a closer look at blades: binoculars, ropes, high-definition ground cameras. But these approaches have limitations in terms of accuracy, safety and then there’s expensive downtime. Today, automated visual inspection technologies have replaced these methods.
Join this Windpower Monthly session – produced in partnership with Sulzer & Schmid – as we look at how the latest inspection technology will change how you manage data.
Operators know that regular and proactive investigations are the best way to identify damage and maintain equipment for the long term. Drones are a dynamic, safe and efficient way to carry out routine visual inspections.
But today’s drones aren’t simply capturing images, they’re also collecting enormous volumes of data. AI-aided analysis tools scan each and every image, making the spotting and assessment of defects hugely efficient.
This is a big shift.
Sign up for this Windpower Monthly session to hear blade experts and operators within the wind industry discuss this hot topic and gain insights into what is possible with today’s technology. Tune in as we discuss:
- how we’ve managed visual inspection data in the past
- what we can do with this legacy data
- how to improve, and future-proof, blade-data management
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A graduate of ETH Zurich, Tom started his career developing robotics and advanced control systems for factory automation. In the early ‘90s, he joined a US-based multinational medical tech company and headed up one of their global divisions. An entrepreneur at heart, he moved on to launch and run a high-tech startup in Silicon Valley, which he later sold to a US private equity firm.
Upon returning to Switzerland, he founded a private equity boutique that focused on advanced medical technologies. Parallel to this, he also rediscovered his passion for engineering and robotics, and set up a laboratory to experiment with novel control algorithms, embedded systems and battery powered machines and vehicles. In 2016 he and his business partner Christof Schmid founded Sulzer Schmid, a leader in delivering world-class drone inspections and advanced analytics software for the wind industry.
As Director Innovation & Digitalisation, Axel Dombrowski is responsible for the development of innovative and digital services and the application of these competencies in all business areas of DNV GL Energy Renewables Certification (RC) worldwide. In this role, he drives the transformation of the certification business towards new business models and value propositions for customers.
Axel has been a trendsetter in the field of renewable energy since the mid-1990s - when today's professional use of wind energy for electricity generation began its triumphant growth - with the standardization and independent evaluation of products and processes in the field of renewable energy. Axel is always looking for intelligent and innovative use of digital possibilities, especially in order to meet changing customer needs in renewable energy and its certification.
Nicolas Quiévy is a civil engineer in Chemistry. He holds a Ph.D. in the processing and characterization of composite materials from the catholic University of Louvain in Belgium.
Nicolas Quiévy joined ENGIE Laborelec in 2012 as expert in non-metallic materials used for power generation, transport and distribution. Since then he is particularly involved in projects related to the structural health assessment and quality aspects of wind turbine blades. Early 2016, Nicolas Quiévy joined ENGIE HQ as Wind Technology Manager. He is now part of the Technical Expertise Department and gives support to project development and O&M activities at a global level. He is also managing an operational excellence program in renewables and of course providing his expertise in blades for ENGIE Group.
As a student of Electronic Engineering from the UNT (Argentina), his interests were focussed on biomechanics and robotics. In 2008 he enrolled the PhD program on Robotics and Automation of UPM (Spain) mainly dedicated to the analysis, design, synthesis and control of applied robotics. In 2013 he began working in EU-FP7 projects in Smart Grids and DRES integration. In 2015 he co-founded a start-up focussed in medical devices. In 2018 he lead the ML-RPA team for process automation and optimization.
At the beginning of 2020 he joined EDPR as part of Corporative Operations where he is focussed on scouting for robotics and intelligent solutions to optimize the O&M activities for wind and solar farms.