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Wind Turbine Maintenance Made Easy
The appetite for wind energy is greater than ever. Still yet, developers are hardly getting much out of the boom. How come? Think maintenance. Bear in Mind Courtesy of Getty Images Behind every sustainable initiative is a return on investment (ROI). The same goes for wind farms, to which turbines are a vehicle not just to jumpstart the energy transition but shore up their bottom lines. The problem with that is financial projections are generally set assuming the assets would see through their designated lifespan operating at optimal capacity. Sadly, such is seldom the case. Where Your Maintenance Efforts Stand Courtesy of DNV Full-on breakdowns are few and far between. In fact, most modern-day turbines make it to the final days of their operational lives – around two or three decades, give or take – before getting decommissioned. That’s to say longevity doesn’t necessarily make up for a reliable barometer to gauge the consequences of proper or, by that token, inadequate maintenance. In this very instance, you might want to look at unintended curtailment instead. Let’s Talk Curtailment Barring extraordinary circumstances in which blades are deliberately feathered to prevent power outages from feeding the transmission grid too much energy, curtailment manifests in the form of aerodynamic drag and prolonged downtime, two of which go hand in hand. Here’s what we mean. A wind turbine is comprised of three major parts – the nacelle, tower, and rotor comprising three blades attached to a hub. Now, let’s say a tiny crack on the leading edge goes unnoticed. The lift-to-drag ratio starts to slip as the blade slowly loses the ability to capture the wind. Worse yet, the rest of the turbine is left to bear the brunt of excess fatigue loads, exposing both the nacelle and tower to rifts. What does all this amount to? Extensive downtime during which the turbine can generate several thousand dollars worth of energy. Maintenance Planning Checklist Courtesy of depositphotos The sheer magnitude of lost revenue is enough to zero in on maintenance. However, just as inadvisable is doing too much. Maintenance consists of cost-incurring activities. Overdoing it may end up dealing an unwanted blow to profit margins. The key is to tread the fine line between too little and too much maintenance. Among others, how each wind farm goes about striking that balance depends on the following factors. Data Courtesy of National Renewable Energy Laboratory The best maintenance is one in which the element of surprise is nowhere to be seen. For that to be the case, operators must have a general sense of when and which component would give out so that they can address the issue at the outset or, better yet, before it breaks out. Doing so requires access to an extensive index of failure characteristics. Unfortunately, industrial-scale deployment of wind energy is only about a couple of decades old, which, for the most part, isn’t enough time to put together a reliable, data-driven framework to base the predictions on. If you happen to have enough operational data in the vault to work off of, kudos to you – predictive maintenance has just gotten a lot easier. Otherwise, start keeping close track of failures and repairs. Or else, maintenance will long remain a game of possibilities. Need help figuring out where to start? Check out fleetMONITOR from ONYX Insight. An advanced condition monitoring software platform built upon a vast diagnostics portfolio of over 14,000 turbines spanning 95 models across 23 manufacturers, tapping into fleetMONITOR will go so far as to feed you with detailed real-time reports on potential faults based on well-established historical data, opening up the doors to saving up to 30 percent on O&M costs while ramping up annual energy production by two percent. Size When it comes to mapping out maintenance strategies, size matters. And the general rule of thumb that rings true in most instances is larger the asset, the lower the operational cost. The logic behind it is relatively straightforward: Bigger turbines -> Higher yield -> Less number of turbines to hit the energy quota -> Fewer maintenance orders per megawatt (MW) of output A unique context in which such a principle doesn’t necessarily hold up is offshore. Though farms over waters boast higher output, arranging maintenance tasks – getting the supplies and technicians to the site, working through logistical barriers, etc. – tend to be way more complicated and costly. Average Cost Courtesy of American Clean Power Association Life would be easier had there been a one-size-fits-all approach to calculating maintenance costs. Reality, however, seldom accommodates ideal circumstances, and the best we have is a ballpark estimate. For older turbines, expect annual O&M charges to fall between three to five percent of the installation costs. The range drops to 1.5 to two percent for newer models, which amounts to about $42,000 to $48,000 per year. Now, be aware. The suggested numbers here posit that the equipment in question is an average-sized onshore turbine with a production capacity of two to three MW. Precisely how much your final cost turns out to be will largely depend on, environmental factors, size, and site conditions. Tools to Minimize Cost Estimation is one thing; cost-cutting is another. Thankfully, when it comes to minimizing O&M expenditures, there is an all-encompassing solution well-suited for wind farms of all stripes. Enter complete turbine maintenance. From blade inspections and drivetrain integration to fault diagnosis and enterprise management, the suite of services borne out of the latest partnership between Nearthlab and ONYX Insight gives in-house teams all the tools to supercharge maintenance efforts – whether that’d be preemptively catching component failures, prioritizing repair tasks based on defect severity and budgetary confinements, putting together analytics reports, or just conducting due diligence. Talk to one of our specialists to find out how we can help elevate your maintenance to new heights at a fraction of the cost. Get in Touch
23.07.19 -
All Things Wind Turbine Blade Inspection
Tick-tock. That’s the sound of your blades inching toward their final twirl. Unfortunately, there’s no viable way to stop the clock. Slowing down the tick, though? That much is within our reach. Timely Inspection is King Courtesy of Yorkshire Live Aging doesn’t discriminate. In the same way Father Time wears heavy on those who fall victim to complications, blades left without routine maintenance protocols bear the brunt of everyday wear and tear. That’s not to say blade management has to be all doom and gloom. With the right tools that allow for timely inspections, making sure the blades see through the final days of their designated lifespan is very much attainable. A Thing About Blades What’s the big deal with blades when other components are just as exposed to surrounding factors and forces, you ask? Well, for starters, no other parts of the turbine are in constant motion. Blades are unique in the sense that they experience repetitive fatigue loads amplified by turbulent wind flows. Their unique material composition doesn’t help either. For maximal aerodynamic efficiency, blades are made with composite comprised predominantly of fiberglass, which is susceptible to delamination, erosion, and weather hazards like lightning and water ingress. All this amounts to nearly 4,000 cases of blade failure reported each year. The actual number is likely to be higher, considering how companies prefer to keep such incidents under wraps to avoid attracting bad press. Ways to Go About It Now that we’ve gone over why blade inspections are a must, it’s time we got down to the how part. Paradigm Shift Wind farms have long relied on manual processes to look after the blades. And that’s not a knock on operators. There simply hadn’t been a viable alternative until the latter half of the past decade when authorities began relaxing regulations for drones to – no pun intended – spread their wings across industrial sectors. Since then, the industry has seen an explosion in drone use. Though such a trend can be written off as a classic case of technology leapfrogging human capacity, the fast rise of drone inspections is a bit more nuanced than that. Old School Approach There are three ways to go about inspecting blades manually. Install scaffolding to get a close-up look.Scan the assets from the ground up using a high-resolution camera.Bring in rope access technicians and have them climb down all three blades one by one. Had you been a site manager at an offshore wind farm, you’d be left with no choice but to work with rope access. The other two banks on the premise that there’d be solid grounds on which operations can be performed. Things don’t get much better onshore. Only so much can lenses zoom in or, by that token, so high the structures can go. Rope access also comes with its own set of risks. Namely, the entire operation hinges on the optical acuity of the technicians whose lives are hanging by a thread several stories above the ground. The New Norm It pays to get your hands dirty in certain cases. Wind turbine blade inspections just aren’t one of them. While a team of dedicated specialists spends hours squinting and knocking, a drone – a highly autonomous one at that – takes about 15 minutes to collect hundreds of high-resolution images across all three blades. The difference seems even more pronounced when numbers are taken into account. With the right solutions, wind farms can see up to a 70 and 90 percent drop in inspection and downtime costs, respectively. Whether it’s for the sake of accuracy, efficiency, or safety, the reasons to tap into drone services are pretty much endless. How Nearthlab Covers Every Inch of Wind Turbine Blades Not all drone technology is created equal. A certain degree of autonomy is required for the drone to provide consistent, reliable data. Otherwise, the success of each inspection would lean on the pilot who, depending on the day, might not show up at their best. With NearthWIND Pro, that’s no longer a concern. Powered by computer vision and remote sensing models, Nearthlab’s drones fly along an optimal path finetuned through surface detection and object avoidance algorithms all by themselves, catching the tiniest of cracks and defects in an efficient and foolproof fashion. Of course, not everyone has the wherewithal to pick up full-fledged inspections. That being the case, NearthWIND Mobile is at your service to turn any given off-the-shelf product into an autonomous inspection-ready drone. It’ll have you conduct spot checkups on the fly in no time. Whichever you go about it, Zoomable will be there to take over once the entire process is done and dusted. After all, what good are streamlined inspections if you burn through days, if not weeks sorting through all that data? From pre and post-processing to defect detection and reporting automation, Zoomable will go the whole nine yards to automate your post-inspection analytics workflow. Talk to one of our specialists to learn more about how Nearthlab can help make the most out of your inspection efforts. Get in Touch
23.06.12 -
Offshore Wind and Environment Don’t Mix? Think Again
Offshore wind energy is taking off like never before. But not without opposition. Advocacy and community groups have filed lawsuits against plans to build large-scale offshore farms on the grounds that pertinent agencies have failed to adequately assess the ramifications these projects may have on the environment. Much to offshore developers’ delight, one of the cases has been tossed after months of legal tussle. While the rest gets sorted out, we wanted to get knee-deep in the issue to see what the actual science says about the ongoing strife over the ecological impacts of offshore wind. Points of Concern Courtesy of WindEurope As we mentioned in our previous post, dotting the sea floor with gigantic steel girders has certain implications for marine mammals and their habitat. But what exactly do such implications entail? The following are three major points of contention between offshore wind farms (OFWs) and activists. Noise Pollution The issue with sound can go both ways. Either the noise emitted during installation disrupts the way of underwater life, or the constant rotation of the blades keeps nearby residents up at night. The latter is more so a matter of technicality as OFWs are seldom constructed in close vicinity to the coast for operational noise to breach municipal ordinances. The former, however, pose a legitimate concern. Especially when the process involves drills and steel drivers, two of which together give out a noise loud enough to stress out marine species that rely on auditory modalities for communication and navigation. Habitat Alteration Drilling down steel piles stirs up a hefty amount of clay and silts. Then follows an uptick in the concentration level of suspended sediment, which brings down the quality and quantity of incident light, making things difficult for benthos and other bottom-dwelling organisms that gain energy from the sun to thrive. Waste Management The argument over waste management has lost its vigor now that there’s technology to take inert blades out of landfills and back into the environment. But the issue still carries some weight in offshore contexts where the average turbine size tends to be considerably larger. Circles of Influence Courtesy of Ørsted Despite all this, the total installed capacity is projected to reach 630 gigawatts over the next three decades. How is it possible for offshore wind to enjoy such explosive growth when challenges as complex are standing in the way? The short answer is technology. Sure, regulatory processes like those of marine spatial planning and strategic environmental assessments are there to lay the groundwork for offshore projects to be rolled out in the most eco-friendly way possible. The crux of the transformative force that turns offshore wind into a positive environmental factor, however, is technology. Bubble Curtains Courtesy of Continental Industry Chances are, you’ve seen a recording studio insulated by panels made up of porous foams. What those panels do is absorb the vibration, preventing sound waves from escaping the room. Bubble curtains leverage that very principle but within an underwater context. By releasing air bubbles through an oil-free compressor that rises to the surface and forms a whirlpool-like barrier, bubble curtains ramp up the density of surrounding water molecules to a point where sound waves from the installation are either broken down or significantly dampened before reaching outside the curtain wall. A good use case that speaks to their effectiveness is the Wikinger project in which Spanish energy leader Iberdrola employed bubble curtains as the primary means of noise control, leaving a minimal ecological footprint in constructing a billion-dollar offshore wind farm. Coral Restoration https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKJP1f8CYfI “By installing offshore wind farms in a sedimentary environment where no solid substrate exists, we create a stable and long-term surface that corals can grow on. Then we can artificially intervene using the nature of these organisms themselves to help them grow in that location.” - Justin Hsieh, Director at Penghu Marine Biology Research Center Bubble curtains zeros in on mitigation. The goal here is to minimize noise. Coral restoration, on the other hand, is all about rehabilitation. It aims to reverse potential habitat loss by introducing lab-cultivated larvae right on the artificial substrate. Spearheading this innovative approach is none other than Ørsted. The Danish energy giant has been unlocking the magic of coral restoration through ReCoral, which continues to diversify the range of habitats and boost biodiversity across offshore sites. Recyclable Blades The well-deserved hype behind ReCoral comes from the fact that it doesn’t just mitigate but improves existing circumstances. The same goes for recyclable blades. All credit to Siemens Gamesa for bringing the concept of blade recyclability to fruition, what had once been deemed an environmental hazard is now being reproduced into cement, plastics, and other much-needed industrial materials. Of course, recyclable or not, the best course of action would be to keep the blades out of landfills by maximizing their lifespan. To do so, you’ll need to keep close tabs on the status of the blades through timely and efficient inspections. Looking after the blades, particularly at offshore sites, can be a handful. If you at all resonate, check out NearthWIND and NearthWIND Mobile, tried-and-true solutions tailor-crafted to turn blade inspections from a painstaking undertaking to a seamless and effortless process. Final Verdict Gut tells us that anything industrial can seldom be conducive to the environment. While that may be true for most industrial activities, it’s hard not to rule out offshore wind as an exception. That’s not to say offshore wind comes free of environmental risks. But as we covered, there are tools in place to offset potential complications and even enrich the oceanic waters and their wonders. As technology continues to mature and these tools deploy at a grander scale, the future of offshore wind will come to shine brighter than its past. Get in Touch
23.05.08 -
Offshore Wind Energy: Powering the World From the Middle of the Ocean
Fast doesn’t always mean better. Well, in the case of wind energy, it kind of does. That very principle goes to explain why offshore wind power is heralded as the next big thing in renewable energy. The entire concept by which offshore wind farms operate revolves around capitalizing on higher wind speeds over waters with larger turbines. Courtesy of New York State Government The result? Wind projects with nearly triple the output of onshore counterparts. To put into perspective, that amounts to roughly a million additional watts over the course of a year. How Offshore Wind Farms Work Just because there exists a wide gap in total installed capacity doesn’t mean offshore wind technology comes with some sort of a silver bullet. In fact, the way offshore wind turbines generate electricity is pretty much identical to how it’s done ashore. Production Here’s how any given turbine turns wind into electricity: Wind blows.Rotor blades, along with the drive shaft they’re connected to, spin.The gearbox ramps up the resulting rotation to over 100 times.The high-speed shaft takes the enhanced energy and passes it on to the generator, where kinetic energy is converted to electricity. Distribution Production is only half the story. The rest is getting that electricity delivered to homes and communities. If anything, though, transmission is a relay, not a sprint. And it may take a little while until the electricity produced from the wind farm reaches your cozy abodes. It needs to make a couple of stops along the way. Courtesy of Orsted Initial Stop. The electrical energy flows to the offshore substation through the array cables linked to the turbine. There, a step-up transformer jacks up the voltage to prevent energy loss.Midway Stop. Through the undersea cables the electricity once again makes its way over to the onshore substation. Capacitor banks installed in the substation recorrect the voltage and the current to fit the grid requirements.Destination. Primed for distribution, the electricity is fed to the transmission grid for commercial and residential use. Types of Offshore Wind Turbines Courtesy of Windpower Engineering & Development How long it takes to generate and transmit electricity depends on a few factors. Most obvious among them is distance - the farther off the coast, the longer the process. That much is a no-brainer. What may not be so obvious is the fact that distance plays a critical role in how offshore turbines stay afloat. Transitional and Shallow Waters First things first. Let’s define deep. Within the context of offshore wind power generation, anywhere above 300 feet is deemed deep. That’s also the extent to which the structural integrity of fixed foundations holds up. The specific type of foundation depends mainly on depth and seabed conditions. The following is a rundown of four different shapes bottom-fixed turbines take. Courtesy of The Delft University of Technology Gravity-Based (~100 ft). A massive piece of concrete or steel ballasted with stones and sediments. Sitting atop a layer of ready-prepared gravel, its sheer weight prevents the turbine from tipping over.Monopile (~115 ft). A giant steel nail drilled into a stiff, sandy ocean basin. The undisputed king of fixed foundations that account for 80 percent of all offshore support structures.Tripod (82~164 ft). Underneath the monopile-like surface lies a central tower supported by a three-legged frame driven into the seabed. Designed to withstand tidal currents powerful enough to erode the sediments holding the foundation in place.Jacket (165~260 ft). Think monkey bars designed for an offshore wind turbine. The lattice-truss structure allows for an even weight distribution, which translates to greater load-bearing capacity and allows for the turbine to stand firm against wave-induced vibrations. Deep Waters Courtesy of Equinor “Up to 80 percent of offshore wind resources globally are in deep waters where traditional bottom fixed installations are not suitable.” - Irene Rummelhoff, executive vice president at Equinor As robust as they may be, fixed substructures don’t come cheap. And there comes a point where the cost of manufacturing bottom-fixed installations starts to outweigh the benefits an offshore wind farm can reap. That’s why deeper waters have been off-limits for so long despite their immense production potential. The money that goes into mass-producing these mammoth pieces of steel hull is simply too much. Thanks to offshore wind developers who racked their brains for a near decade to come up with a workaround, that’s no longer the case. The entire ocean is now our oyster with the rollout of commercial-scale floating platforms underway. Courtesy of Journal of Marine Science and Engineering Now, just like bottom fixed installations, floating foundations can go four ways. Let’s take a closer look. Spar-Buoy. Real-life application of Archimedes’ principle in which buoyancy is achieved through displacing a mass of water by partially submerging a vertical cylinder. Kept in position using mooring lines or suction anchors.Semi-submersible platforms. Multi-legged cousin of spar foundations. Relies on relatively short-diameter columns and a mooring system for stability.Tensioned Legs Platform (TLP). Floater comprised of columns and pontoons. Locked in place with tensioned tendons that prevent vertical motion like heaving. Barge. Boat-like platform with a large, flat base. Generally towed to a designated spot with heave plates. Offshore Wind Generation Benefits As new technologies continue to scale, offshore wind power capacity is slated to go from 40 gigawatts (GW) to a whopping 630 GW over the next three decades. Even among industries experiencing a double-digit increase, growth at such a breakneck pace is unheard of. Being an inexhaustible yet explosive source of green energy, the mass appeal of offshore wind may seem almost self-explanatory. But there’s much more to offshore wind than just that. The following are three major benefits offshore wind has to offer. Production Capacity All else equal, a wind speed of 15 mph generates twice as much electricity as 12 mph. As such, a seemingly minor increase in wind speed leads to a dramatic rise in energy production. That’s to say seabased farms can churn out the same amount of energy onshore wind farms produce with fewer turbines when, ironically, there’s much wider space to install more over the waters. Job Creation To what end are governments around the world pumping millions of dollars into large-scale initiatives as that of the Inflation Reduction Act? To incentivize the use of alternative energy other than fossil fuels in an effort to reduce greenhouse gases? On the surface, perhaps so. But just as vital is the economic incentive, which comes in the form of job creation. Keep in mind that manufacturing, installing, and maintaining offshore wind turbines are complex maneuvers that draw from a concerted effort by multiple supply chains and verticals. And as offshore wind kicks into higher gear, the demand for jobs across engineering, maritime trade, finance, and other corresponding fields will grow proportionally. Talking numbers, the offshore wind industry in the U.S. alone is expected to post up to 58,000 additional jobs annually for the next seven years. Community Revitalization Robust job growth alone isn’t enough to infuse communities with newfound vitality. But once new facilities are up and running? Now, that’s a different story. Notably, when these facilities start working with local suppliers and businesses, it’s only a matter of time before the neighborhood becomes a manufacturing hub. As regards to coastal towns heavily reliant on the tourism economy, the chain of events depicted here is beyond favorable. Give the following case studies from American Clean Power Association and Orsted a read to get a detailed look into the process by which offshore wind brings new prospects and opportunities across coastal communities. Environmental Impacts One doesn’t need to be a wildlife biologist to suppose that dotting the sea floor with gigantic steel girders would carry some sort of implications for marine mammals and their habitat. While much of its environmental impact is yet to be explored, research suggests that offshore wind's effect on biodiversity should be considered net positive, not the other way around. The reasons are threefold. Rigorous Preliminary Screening. Offshore installations don’t happen overnight. Detailed studies must be conducted years in advance under the guidance of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to assess the compatibility of the site with maritime uses. Only after dotting all the i’s and crossing all the t’s follows the go sign to move forward. Buffer Technologies. From Iberdrola's noise mitigation solution to Orsted’s coral restoration project, the industry is seeing the emergence of cutting-edge technologies designed to accommodate the symbiosis between marine life and wind farms. Climate Change Mitigation. It’s no secret that rising temperatures impose irreversible damage to marine ecosystems. By mitigating carbon emissions and stabilizing the climate, offshore wind power can expedite the much-needed restoration of marine life. Making the Most Out of Offshore Wind Projects If there’s any downside, it’s that offshore wind can turn out to be relatively high maintenance. Particularly since offshore wind turbine components are exposed to high winds and sea waves, the need for consistent, proper care tends to be more pronounced than land-based counterparts. Though fantastic in their own right, inspection solutions using industrial-grade drones come with all sorts of logistical complications that throw routine maintenance out of the question. With a plug-and-play solution that delivers quality inspections with commercial off-the-shelf drones, however, it’s a whole ‘nother ballgame. Give NearthWIND Mobile a go and let the magic of spot checkups unlock the potential of your offshore initiatives. Book a Demo
23.04.17 -
Next-Level Aerial Intelligence with Drone Analytics
Data is the new oil. In the sense that both make the world go round, perhaps so. The two, however, are not without contrasts. Oil is scarce, data is practically infinite; oil starts as crude, raw data comes in different forms; reusing oil is deemed inexpedient, data is all about repurposing. So forth, so on. The biggest difference of all? Data isn’t terrestrial. Terabytes of information flow through the sky with each passing second. Now, that leads us to the elephant in the room – how’s all that aerial data managed? The answer lies in drone analytics. What is Drone Data? As far as semantics is concerned, drone data is as straightforward as it gets. It simply refers to aerial information collected by drones. But that’s a loose definition that fails to capture its extensive breadth and utility. To truly understand the multilayered nature of drone data, one must first look at different types and grasp how they’re applied under various commercial contexts. Data Collection Using Drones Imaging Humans have pain receptors that fire up the nerves when something goes wrong. Infrastructure assets are bereft of such self-preserving mechanisms. The only way to tell whether assets are defect-free is by giving them a close-up look. Unfortunately, doing so is no cakewalk. Take wind turbines, for example. It takes hours for a group of rope access technicians to work their way down, squinting at or knocking on the blade to see if it’s sound and whole. Inspecting assets this way is counterproductive, error-prone, and precarious at best. An alternative? Drone photography. Namely, highly autonomous solutions such as NearthWIND Pro and Mobile take no more than 15 minutes to collect thousands of images with high-resolution cameras across the surface area, which, in turn, can be used to identify the precise location of the defects. Photogrammetry Not a way of collecting data per se, but we’d be remiss not to touch on photogrammetry. After all, drone mapping would still be stuck in a two-dimensional realm had it not been for photogrammetry. One way to think of photogrammetry is as photography’s overachieving brother. Once aerial images are compiled, photogrammetry takes a step further to stitch the images together into a three-dimensional rendering. The value of the resulting model is proving to be immense as it provides a holistic view of the asset from all angles and ranges. LiDAR There are different ways to go about 3D mapping. Of them is light detection and ranging, better known as LiDAR. The building blocks of LiDAR-driven 3D models are lasers. Or, to be precise, the data points lasers yield. A typical LiDAR survey goes as follows: The transmitter shoots out pulses of light at a target.The receiver records the angle, intensity, and timing of the reflected pulses.The resulting dataset forms point clouds that are remolded into a 3D rendering. Despite its next-level geospatial accuracy, LiDAR falls short when it comes to photographic depth. Plus, the hefty price tag that comes with LiDAR sensors may not make up for the most budget-conscious move, particularly when photogrammetry is available. Thermal Detection Sometimes, one must look past visual cues to ensure the asset is in good standing. Indicator industries can resort to in those instances is heat. By measuring the spectrum of infrared frequencies using microbolometers mounted on a gimbal, thermal drones put heat gaps spread across the asset on full display to help detect freezes, leaks, and other conditions that could make or break operations and maintenance (O&M). However, the effectiveness of thermal drones is limited by certain factors such as windy, humid climates and flight speed. Sampling Lubricants quite literally grease the wheels of industrial operations. Ensuring it stays that way often turns out to be an uphill battle, as the sump is typically located in areas that are difficult to reach physically. Worse yet, manual sampling comes with the risk of stirring up the debris sitting down under, rendering the entire process meaningless. With the recent improvements in drone technology, sampling is no longer much of a hassle. Equipped with a payload comprised of ultrasonic rangers, vials, and pumps, drones are increasingly proving their worth within the sampling sphere. Data Science with Drones Now that we’ve brushed up on drone data let’s get down to the nuts and bolts. Data analytics is an umbrella term for processes and systems behind turning unstructured data into actionable insights. Drone analytics is exactly that but with aerial data. Drone Analytics Workflows The steps drone data goes through may seem virtually identical in the grand scheme of things. But not all analytics workflows are made equal. For the sake of a crisp, concise overview, we’ll base the rest of the rundown on drone imagery, the most prominent aerial mapping technique out there today. Image Processing Preprocessing As accurate and detailed as drone imaging is, too many factors are at play for images to appear consistent in their raw state. A slight shift in background intensity can lead to a visible change in contrast and resolution. To ensure that the final product turns out blemish-free, the value of individual pixels must be modified so that each image looks clean and uniform in terms of orientation, ratio, size, and more. Post-Processing Once the dataset has been standardized, it’s due for post-processing. The reasons to run images through an additional round of processing are twofold. Getting rid of the guesswork Referring to the final product imprinted on the box is tabooed amongst avid puzzle solvers. That’s because having access to a holistic view makes it much easier to determine where an individual piece falls on the jigsaw. Defect identification is no different. With access to a panoramic view, tracking down the defects becomes a matter of observation, not intuition. Preventing missing data from going unnoticed Looked at in a vacuum, it’s impossible to tell whether the drone has covered every bit of the asset. From a bird’s eye view, on the other hand, missing parts are bound to stick out like a sore thumb. Data Analysis Images have been stitched together into a clean-cut composite. All there’s left is to take a crack at defect marking, though working your way through might turn out to be a handful. That goes for even the most trained set of analysts. There’s only so much the naked eye can do to dig up defects that may as well be the size of a bug bite. Thankfully, we no longer have to bank on human optics. With artificial intelligence at our disposal, dedicated software solutions can do the work instead. Of course, no solution is perfect. But had there been a one-size-fits-all drone analytics software, it’d look very much like Zoomable. Before giving you our two cents on why that is, spare us a second to brush over reporting - the final phase of the analytics process. Reporting Customizable report on Zoomable The importance of reporting cannot be overstated. Insights are hardly any good kept all to yourself. Only after getting the stakeholders on the same page through proper data sharing can you start to make more informed decisions. Done manually, however, reporting can be an incredibly monotonous process. Plus, time is too valuable of a commodity for anyone to waste hours on end crunching numbers into a spreadsheet. Opting for reporting automation tools could be an option. But most come without the ability to integrate with other software applications natively. It’ll be up to you to update the data from the backend with each report. Now, what if we told you there’s a way to automate the entire analytics workflow? From pre and post-processing to defect detection and reporting automation. Sounds too good to be true, right? Well, not necessarily. Meet Zoomable. As an end-to-end solution, Zoomable takes the dataset through rounds of processing to give the images a clean polish before stitching them together into a coherent composite. Defects are then sorted out according to type and severity. From there, Zoomable cross-references the identified defects with historical data to come up with estimated cost and repair time. As a cherry on top, all relevant information is compiled into a customizable report. Drone Analytics Market Trends Courtesy of Polaris Market Research Zoomable is a prime example of a blue ocean strategy gone right. Much of its success owes to the shrewd foresight of developers who sought to put forward an end-to-end solution before the ever-rising adoption of UAV technology turned drone analytics into a hotbed for competition and innovation. Now that virtually every industry – agriculture, construction, and site inspection, among others – has come around to using UAVs to collect data and perform tasks once thought unimaginable, the demand for drone analytics solutions is taking off like never before. The numbers say it all. The latest research from Allied Market Research shows that the market size of the global drone analytics industry, currently valued at $2.7 billion, is expected to more than tenfold before the turn of the decade at an impressive CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 29.2 percent. The Future of Drone Data and Artificial Intelligence Technological advancements in machine learning, dubbed with heightening interest and investment in drone services from leading companies and small enterprises, are pushing the boundaries of drone operations. The government, too, is doing its part by easing regulations and devising frameworks to accommodate a symbiotic environment where key players continue to thrive while new entrants follow in the footsteps of leading players. With public and private sectors working together to bring about the next wave of the industrial revolution led by autonomous drones, organizations that learn to embrace drone analytics will be able to navigate the growing sea of aerial data to stay well ahead of the curve. Contact Us
23.03.27 -
Complete Guide to Wind Turbine Inspection
The world is home to over 341,000 turbines. Now, let’s do a little math. Manual means, be it ground-based monitoring or rope-access operation, take more or less six hours to look over a turbine. Given that they’re done no more than twice a year, how many hours go into inspections for an average wind farm? A whopping 4.1 million hours. We’re talking about 467 years of downtime, all without taking into account change orders, weather-related delays, and other externalities that may as well drag out the process for another couple of decades. Why Put Up With the Hassle? As a matter of fact, inspections don’t have to be a hassle. More on that later. For now, we get it. Standing taller than the pyramid at 466 feet with an average wingspan of 418 feet, it’s almost counterintuitive to think that a mammoth piece of steel as that of a wind turbine would need to be looked at more than once or twice a year. Don’t let the looks fool you, though. Turbines happen to be deceivingly fragile creatures despite their monstrous presence. Particularly for rotor blades made of fiberglass, a seemingly negligible surface rust on the leading edge can lead to a dramatic loss in energy production. This is all to say that keeping tabs on turbine status is of paramount importance. Preventing everyday wear and tear from brewing into bigger problems is vital for optimal performance and a viable lifespan. Evolution of Turbine Inspections There are two ways to go about manually inspecting a turbine. Rope Access Operation A typical rope access operation is carried out in three strokes. The rotors come to a standstill, with the lowermost wind turbine blade pointing straight down at a six o’clock position.A group of three or more technicians ladders up the tower. Tethered to a rope secured to an anchor point, inspectors make their way down from the nose cone, looking for damages. The most obvious catch here is the looming possibility of fatal consequences. One stiff breeze and the rope gets in the way of the trailing edge of the blade, that’d mark the beginning of an end to an irreversible tragedy. Technicians themselves know full well what they’re getting into. If anything, the insurance fees listed below steep service charges and miscellaneous expenses should speak to how uber-aware they’re of such risks. Ground-Based Monitoring Courtesy of Windpower Engineering & Development Looking at a turbine through the lens of a high-resolution camera from the ground is one of the safest inspection methods out there. Yet there’s a reason why most wind farms rely on rope access to look after their assets. Consider this for a moment. Even with the most advanced full-frame cameras, it takes a slew of snaps from different angles and ranges to capture a clean portrait. Well, good luck catching millimeter-sized cracks 200-plus feet above the ground. Case in point: ground-based methods tend to be ridden with bad data. After all, what good is an inspection if much of the images collected during the process turns out to be moot? Drone Wind Turbine Inspections As much as 90 percent of the addressable market in the U.S. rely on drones for wind farm inspections. Leaving defect detection and preventive maintenance under the purview of traditional inspection techniques is dicey at best. But every cloud has a silver lining. Casting a slither of light across the bleak picture painted by drawn-out manual processes is none other than uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs). Inspections have turned the corner since these little robotic aircraft entered the scene. To put things into perspective, tapping into autonomous drone solutions can lead to a 70 and 90 percent drop in inspection and downtime costs, respectively. And that’s just a fraction of what they have to offer. Wind turbine inspection drones are like a gift that keeps on giving. Routine Inspections Just because wind farms are devoted to the cause of sustainable energy production doesn’t mean they operate out of sheer goodwill. At the end of the day, it’s the figures on the books that keep the turbines spinning, not altruistic motives. By that token, every second the turbines stay still is a financial toll. Rack up hours of downtime that snowball into days, weeks, and eventually a month; the amount of lost revenue from inspections can turn out to be crippling. Hence the reason why most wind farms determine against giving their assets a look more than twice a year. With drones, however, that’s no longer the case. Not only does UAV inspection come at a fraction of the cost, but topline solutions such as NearthWIND Pro take no more than 15 minutes to inspect all three blades – a task that could eat up the whole day for a three-man squad of the most qualified rope access specialists. To top it off, a select few service providers offer technology specifically designed for spot inspections. Perhaps the most well-established among them is NearthWIND Mobile, an award-winning plug-and-play solution that turns off-the-shelf products into autonomous inspection drones tethered to a smartphone. By harnessing the power of drone solutions that give way to cost-efficient, hassle-free checkups, wind farms will have plenty of uptime to fit in additional rounds of inspections without letting downtime costs spiral out of control. Diagnostic Imaging Imagine going into an annual physical only to come out after getting a cursory examination of your general appearance. Ludicrous, right? As if there isn’t so much more to health than looking fit. The same goes for wind turbine components. Just because they appear defect-free doesn’t mean everything is sunshine and roses underneath. The only way to gauge the true status of the assets is by factoring in the sanctity of the internal structure. Unlike its exterior counterpart, drones and humans aren’t the only primary means available. Wheeled crawlers and hyperthin fiberscopes also make up the pool of potential inspection methods. While the two are worthy of consideration, keep in mind that both are bound by spatial limitations. That’s what seems to give drones the edge when it comes to internal inspections. Equipped with infrared cameras or ultrasonic payload, drones can identify irregularities below the surface with laser-sharp precision across areas that neither humans, cable cameras, nor robotic crawlers can see nor access. As another food for thought, the law prohibits an inspector from traversing past 91 feet. That leaves about 60 percent of an average-sized blade unexamined. For offshore wind turbines, to which every day is yet another battle against salt-induced internal corrosion, the tight regulatory ceiling alone is enough to throw manual inspections out of the question. Related: Offshore Wind and Environment Don't Mix? Think Again Real Time Data Gathering data is one thing, making sense of it is another. Suppose, for the sake of argument, there’s no marked difference between manual and UAV inspection systems in terms of efficiency, reliability, and safety. Still yet, most wind farms would opt for the latter given the choice. How so? Each inspection yields a bulk of data. And even for the most trained set of eyes, sorting through hundreds of images is a grueling endeavor. Don’t get us wrong. Raw data won’t magically mold into actionable insights just because inspections are done with drones. But certain analytics platforms have the ability to automate various stages of data analysis and reporting. Take Zoomable, for example. Backed by cutting-edge deep learning algorithms, Zoomable runs images through rounds of analytics to give them a clean and consistent polish so that the core defects are brought out to the fore before getting categorized according to type and severity. The platform also lets users integrate data across disparate sources, allowing for a fresh set of images to be cross-referenced against historical data. The Future of Autonomous Inspections for Wind Turbines Dave Chapelle said it best - modern problems require modern solutions. As a massive ramp-up in investments from companies and governments fuel a new level of growth in wind power, the demand for a cost-effective O&M solution that gives way to regular inspections will grow manifold. And before we know, the old school days of dispatching technicians across onshore and offshore wind farms to indulge in precarious and time-consuming inspections will be long gone. That very gap will be replaced by ever-maturing drone technology. To stay ahead of the curve in this rapidly evolving renewable energy landscape, wind farms must learn to embrace remote diagnostics complemented with in-depth analytics. Much to your delight, Nearthlab has been at the forefront of bringing about the next wave of innovation in turbine inspections. Book a demo to learn more about how our suite of award-winning autonomous drone solutions can help take your operational efficiency to unfound heights. Schedule Demo
23.03.09 -
All There’s to Know About Autonomous Drones
Drones these days get a bad rep. Guess that’s hardly a surprise when every headline is about another drone swarm taking an additional batch of human lives. That’s not to say the disproportionate attention to the military use of drones is entirely fair. Because, within industrial settings, drones have propelled operational efficiency to a level none of us thought possible while sparing countless lives in the process. On behalf of like-minded service providers who revel in the potential of drones to serve as an agent of the greater good, we hereby chart out all there’s to know about autonomous drones and how they’ve transformed our lives for the better. What Makes a Drone Autonomous? A drone is an umbrella term for any aircraft that can fly without a human pilot onboard. Hence the reason why a drone is often referred to as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Now, there are two ways to go about flying an aircraft without giving direct commands. It can be controlled remotely or equipped with intelligent drone systems that allow the drone to self-pilot a premeditated flight path. The latter needs to be the case for a drone to be considered autonomous. Are All Autonomous Drones Created Equal? Here’s a million-dollar question. You see a drone zip through an obstacle course all by itself. Would that make the drone autonomous? Well, not quite. A considerable degree of autonomy is required to navigate a cluttered environment. Robust self-flying capacity, however, doesn’t make up for the whole story. For a flight to be truly autonomous, a drone must figure out when and where to fly, not just how. Unfortunately, the level of technological maturity isn’t quite there yet. Whether it’s planning, dispatch, operational control, or postflight data analysis, a certain degree of human input is necessary to ensure the entire process remains airtight. Levels of Autonomy Courtesy of Drone Industry Insights The chart above outlines different levels of drone autonomy. Let’s break it down a little more. Level 0. The pilot remains in full control throughout from takeoff to landing. Doomed to crash otherwise. Level 1. A specific function of the flight – generally position sensing or obstacle detection – is automated. Drones to remain in the pilot’s visual line of sight (VLOS). Level 2. Drones send out warning signs when an object moves in too close. The pilot is in charge of safe operation and keeping drones within VLOS. Level 3. The pilot is present purely as a backup. Payload comprised of devices and sensors allows drones to fly a pre-programmed path without running into obstacles. Level 4. On-site presence is no longer necessary. With clearance, operations can take place beyond visual line of sight (BLVOS) as drones are capable of flying through harsh conditions and have a failsafe to fall back on in cases of breakdown. Level 5. Drones handle all the legwork that goes into a flight. The technology and legal framework to accommodate full autonomy are still in the test phase. Why Does Drone Autonomy Matter? The degree of drone autonomy can make or break operational success. Think about it. The whole point of using drones is to have them plow through and capture high-quality data from areas and assets that are either undesirable or unfit to be surveyed manually. With level 2 UAVs and below, the skill level of the operator will come to dictate how useful the collected data turns out to be. Of course, this wouldn’t have been much of an issue had the talent pool of skilled pilots been deep. But tracking down an experienced and qualified operator who understands the structural complexity of the asset is like finding a needle in a haystack. And even when the right talent turns up, their services tend to cost all four limbs. UAV Remote Sensing Applications If you can’t already tell, the industrial use of autonomous drones is incredibly diverse–asset inspection, environmental monitoring, precision agriculture, site surveillance, and so forth so on. One thing to note is that all these tasks fall under the roof of remote sensing, which, in essence, refers to contactless data collection. So, how do autonomous drones go about remote sensing to collect aerial data? Three different ways. Photogrammetry Perhaps the most well-established aerial surveying technique, photogrammetry captures hundreds and thousands of snapshots over a specific surface area before stitching them together into a three-dimensional (3D) rendering. The value of resulting 3D models is proving to be immense. Particularly within the O&M industry that has long been putting up with inefficient and hazardous manual inspection processes, drone photogrammetry is turning out to be a game-changer. If anything, a video is worth a million words. Check out the clip below to get a close-up look into how drone photogrammetry takes place within the context of wind turbine inspections. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLzNWPxlQ4I Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) LiDAR won’t come to you as a brand-new concept should you be at all familiar with the workings of a radar. As radar does with radio waves, LiDAR emits high-powered lasers at a target to measure the angle, intensity, and timing of the reflected pulses. The collected data points then go through mapping software to recreate a three-dimensional model, which helps site managers detect irregularities across a set area and gauge optimal uses of the land. Keep in mind that the ability of LiDAR to provide a bird’s eye view of a mapped area doesn’t make up for the lack of photographic depth. To get the look and feel of a particular terrain supported by color and texture, you’ll need to opt for photogrammetry. Thermal Not all defects are there for the naked eye to catch. Sometimes, the only way to make sure the assets are being maintained properly is to look past visual cues. An indicator that industries can resort to in those instances is heat. Take a look at the transmission sector to see what thermal drones have to offer. Insulation is of paramount importance to transport materials from A to B. Cross-referencing heat levels across the pipeline brings out internal freezes and leaks into the open. Thermal sensors, however, are uber-sensitive to weather conditions. To avoid the heatmap from coming out as a blur, the drones mustn’t be flown in windy or humid climates nor go past 8.95 miles per hour. What Are Autonomous Drones Used For? UAV-based remote sensing techniques have opened up new avenues of growth across industries. Here’s how. Agriculture There’s more to agribusiness than meets the eye. Planting and watering crops don’t cut it. Quality production depends on how well the crops can be preserved from constantly shifting environmental factors. To do so, farmers must keep close tabs on soil health, irrigation conditions, heat levels, and more. Running a comprehensive farmland analysis meant tapping into aerial mapping services led by full-fledged aircraft. Now, an autonomous drone can get the job done on a weekly or even daily basis at a fraction of the cost, which perhaps goes to show why the global market for agricultural drones has grown from $494 million to $6.28 billion over the past six years. Construction Site selection forms the building block of any successful construction project. The good news is construction managers don’t need to start from scratch. They usually have access to relevant maps and studies from previous projects. The bad news is the shape of the terrains is subject to constant change due to hydraulic erosion and sedimentation, and the information in front of them might as well be obsolete. Thanks to drones, old literature isn’t all there is for site managers to go off of. They can get their hands on the latest topographic profile of a given terrain through autonomous flight. The 3D rendering modeled after high-resolution images helps site managers to make out preconstruction challenges and volumetric measurements, letting them double down on their construction plans. With more than half of the civil construction projects relying on UAVs to handle everyday needs, the worldwide market for construction drones, currently at around $5 billion, is slated to double in value over the next five years. Infrastructure Inspection Building assets from the ground up is one thing. Maintaining them is another. More often than not, proper maintenance proves to be a tougher challenge than getting assets up and running. The reasons are twofold – 1) the pace of degradation tends to be faster as assets wear and tear with everyday use; 2) traditional means of inspections are ridden with costly, time-consuming, and potentially fatal manual processes. Let’s take a closer look at how autonomous drones have changed the status quo under different industrial contexts. Bridges Do you remember all those times you had to take a roundabout route due to bridge-related lane closure? While certainly frustrating, now you can take comfort in that it isn’t your life hanging by a thread every passing second the bridge remains closed. Before drones found their way into the scene, inspectors spent days rappelling across steel slopes looking for cracks and delamination. That’s to say inspections banked on the optical acuity of the technicians, which came at the risk of letting certain defects go unnoticed. Letting drones do the work instead did wonders. It removed personnel from harm’s reach while giving way for artificial intelligence (AI) to catch the defects with pinpoint accuracy. Mining Mining is a precarious pursuit. Dubbed with the fact that the law mandates inspections to be done on a quarterly basis for underground sites, a mining company deals with a whole lot of responsibility to save their workers from getting exposed to toxic gases and hazardous wastes. By virtue of autonomous drones, mining companies can now keep close tabs on coal, temperature, ore passes, and other areas of mining management without putting the well-being of employees at risk. Utility Towers The tale of the tower inspections isn’t all that different from its bridge counterpart. Meaning it’s the sacrifices rope-access technicians have made behind the scenes that give us the privilege of being able to enjoy fast and stable network services around the world. But now that carriers are calling for enhanced 4G and 5G capacity left and right, mustering up the manpower to accommodate the growing demand for bigger and better cell towers will be a Herculean challenge. Well, if UAVs hadn’t been a thing, that is. Equipping the drones with computer vision and cameras, inspections are done in a matter of hours without forcing anyone to crawl around the tower at a staggering height. Wind Turbines Now, you might have noticed a bit of a theme going around here – vastly cheaper, faster, and safer means of inspection. That’s the name of the game when it comes to the industrial applications of UAVs. Wind energy is no exception. Drones have completely changed the way turbines are looked after. Asides from giving turbines a rough scan with a binocular or camera from the ground, there were two ways to go about turbine inspections before drones were introduced. Either set up a scaffold around the turbine or bring in a technician for a rope access operation. As you can imagine, neither proved particularly productive nor reliable, with a typical turnaround time of no less than six hours. Meanwhile, drones take more or less 15 minutes to survey a full-sized turbine. Research has shown that highly autonomous solutions such as NearthWIND Pro can lead to a 70 and 90 percent drop in inspection and downtime costs, respectively. All this is to say that the efficacy of UAV technology is resounding through the corridors of industrial facilities, which is set to culminate in a $35 billion drone inspection market. Public Safety Put yourself in the shoes of a new police recruit dispatched to a crime scene. All psyched up to make your first arrest, you hop in your cruiser and rev up the engine. As it turns out, the road has zero concern for your heroic pursuit, as illustrated by the traffic jam. Once you arrive at the reported site, it’s ten minutes too late, and you’re back to square one. The point here is police work happens on the fly. But the mobility of most vehicles is compromised by a host of factors, including accidents, traffic jams, and road work. Now, imagine there had been a drone tied to the top of your cruiser. Treating the patrol car as a base station, the drone is deployed to capture the crime scene as it unfolds and provide you with the much-needed situational awareness to chart out the next steps. Make no mistake. The market for public safety drones is relatively nascent. It may be a while before we see drones take part in routine police work. For the time being, drones are used to put together 3D orthomosaic maps to help preplan emergencies and reconstruct accidents. The Future of Autonomous Drone Solutions The best part of it all is that there’s still much room for innovation when it comes to commercial drone use. Namely, a world where self-reliant drones float through the sky is no longer science fiction. As we transition to that very future, companies that harness the power of autonomous drones will be able to get more done in less time, unlocking next-level productivity and growth. Don’t know where to start? Find out how Nearthlab’s suite of autonomous drone solutions can help you gather and analyze aerial data in an efficient and seamless fashion. Unlock actionable insights that drive your business forward. Contact Us
23.02.14
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