New robots offer a safer and cheaper way to maintain offshore wind farms in rough seas. Researchers have developed advanced technology that allows autonomous robots to perform routine maintenance, according to an article in Tech Xplore.
One of the main challenges of offshore wind farms is ensuring precise and steady maintenance performances during turbulent seas. Currently, this process is not only expensive but dangerous for the workers involved. Helicopters, ships, and hoisting equipment are required to manage offshore wind farms and tidal turbines.
However, now engineers in Edinburgh have created novel computational and experimental tools that help autonomous robots remain steady in fluctuating waves. By using robots to navigate the waves and complete maintenance tasks, the scientists have developed a solution that simplifies operations and reduces costs.
This new method also keeps workers out of dangerous settings amid rough seas.
Published in The International Journal of Robotics Research, the study used wave-detecting devices to measure the direction and height of incoming waves. That data is then relayed in real time to a robot working on the nearby wind farm or tidal turbine. After processing the wave information, the robot can respond to disturbances in the water, maintaining a stable position.
Using wave data collected by a buoy in the North Sea, the researchers were able to mimic the types of conditions surrounding offshore wind farms. They then trialed their system at the university's FloWave testing tank.
Streamlining the maintenance process also decreases the cost of renewable energy, incentivizing the switch to clean power. As more companies transition toward clean energy, they can help reduce the total amount of pollution in the atmosphere, helping create a more sustainable future.
"Increasing the use of autonomous robots to help maintain offshore renewable installations could have a transformative effect on cutting the cost of producing clean energy," Dr. Francesco Giorgio-Serchi told Tech Xplore. "Advancing this technology further could help bring about a step change in the adoption of unmanned robots at sea and drastically increase the degree of automation in the offshore sector."
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