December 31, 2019

Automated solution for Leading Edge Repair

We have achieved another great milestone in our technology advancement – an automated solution for Leading Edge Repair. We successfully conducted the first LE repair on-site using the Aerones robotic technology. Here is a video of how we repair the Leading Edge in less than 2 hour.

The automated LE repair consists of 5 steps:

No

Step

Description

Time necessary

1.

Laser scan

Scan the blade before the repair and generate a 3D model of the blade in 12 μm (micrometer) precision to assess the blade condition and adjust the tools.

15min

2.

Grinding and sanding

Remove the damaged/eroded layer to allow for application of a new layer of filler.

10-20min

3.

Decontamination

Clean up the blade and prepare it for filler application to provide maximal durability of the material applied later.

10-20min

4.

Filler application and profiling

Apply an exact amount of the filler material on the blade and profile it in a high-precision.

10-20min

5.

Laser scan

Scan the blade after the repair to validate the result and guarantee the highest quality.

15min

Changing the robotic arms

After each of the steps it is necessary to change the robotic arms. Each of the robotic arms perform different task

5min x 4

Total time

Time necessary to perform the whole process for one blade

1.5h – 2h

 

Besides LE Repair, the Aerones robotic blade care systems can perform:

  • Lightning Protection System (LPS) test (video);
  • Detailed visual inspections and data analysis (video);
  • Leading-edge protection and ice-phobic coating application (video);
  • 3D scanning of the wind turbine blades – to assess energy production efficiency (video)

 

Aerones
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