EDINBURGH, United Kingdom — In a wave tank
at a robot laboratory in the Scottish capital
Edinburgh, engineers observe in
silence as an underwater drone rises stealthily to the surface.
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The team, which led the development of the remotely
operated vehicle (ROV) at Heriot-Watt University, believe the submersible
machine is a game-changer for offshore wind farms, obviating the need for
divers.
The engineers reckon it will soon be ready to
perform inspections and maintenance at wind farms, transforming the nature of
the high-risk and costly endeavors just as the industry is set for huge
expansion.
British Prime Minister
Boris Johnson has promised to
make the UK the “Saudi Arabia” of wind power, with plans to generate enough
electricity from offshore to power every UK home by 2030.
While Johnson is on his way out of office, the
industry is banking on the expansion plans, especially after Russia’s invasion
of Ukraine sent the price of traditional carbon energy through the roof.
“We have to imagine that in 10, 15 years time there
will be hundreds of wind farms, which means thousands of wind turbines all
across the coast of the UK,” Yvan Petillot, a robotics and autonomous systems
professor at Heriot-Watt, told AFP.
“You also have hydrogen technology being developed
and all of this will need to be maintained, inspected, and serviced.
“What we are developing is remote technologies where
people can inspect and maintain those assets from shore, without putting anyone
in harm’s way.”
Accumulation of micro-organisms
In May the ROV, which is
equipped with sensors and advanced software, conducted what is believed to be
the first ever autonomous offshore wind farm inspection.
The device was deployed at French energy firm EDF’s
Blyth wind farm, off the coast of Northumberland, northeast England.
It successfully recorded videos that allowed
researchers to assess the exterior condition of turbine foundations and cables.
Meanwhile its software created a 3D reconstruction
model of parts of the energy company’s underwater assets.
Petillot said the 3D model can pick up the
accumulation of micro-organisms, plants and algae on the turbine foundations.
If a problem is detected, the ROV system can be
deployed with a robotic arm to conduct a repair.
“The system will first do an autonomous inspection
of the seabed and the structure, and build the 3D model that someone from shore
can look at and say, ‘there’s a problem here’,” Petillot said.
“Typically you
would have corrosion on the system, you might have to turn a valve, you might
have to connect a cable, you might have to change an anode and clean the
surface if there is too much bio-fouling.”
Maxime Duchet, an offshore wind research engineer at
EDF, said the images and modelling will greatly enhance the ability to conduct
operations and maintenance activities on-site.
‘Safer and faster’
Further tests are needed to
estimate the time required to inspect all of the turbine foundations and to
demonstrate the full potential of marine robotic technology, he noted.
“However, it is clear from these initial results
that the technology can ensure safer and faster operations and a reduced carbon
footprint,” Duchet added.
Engineers, who use a joystick to pilot the vehicle,
say the ROV can be left alone to perform its primary mapping task for most of
the time.
If it becomes stuck, or lingers too long in a
particular area, a pilot can commandeer it.
Petillot said a long-term benefit could be allowing
more people to join the team managing the ROV remotely, who might not have been
willing or able to work offshore.
It is incredibly difficult to find a diver or a
qualified pilot for such projects, he noted.
In contrast, finding somebody to help control the system as
though they were playing a video game should prove far easier, according to
Petillot.
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