Analysis & Insight

UAV Approaches to Turbine Inspection: Reducing Reliance on Rope-Access

Published 28 March 2019

UAV inspection technology in action.

With the continued rise of robotics and autonomous systems in renewables, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are quickly becoming the go-to method for inspection across the wind industry.

UAV technology provides a means to reduce the risk of inspection tasks, increase the frequency of inspection and provide high-quality information for the maintenance planning process. Although UAV inspection has been adopted in the wind industry, there can be misunderstanding around the capability and application of UAV technology in the sector.

This case study, by Craig Stout and David Thompson, aims to lift the lid on the inspection process and to provide actionable, operational insight from Cyberhawk, one of the wind industry’s leading inspection service providers.

Download