Robowind, LLC has worked together with Professors Praveen Shankar and
Mahdi Yoozbashizadeh from California State University, Long Beach to
develop robots and robotic tools for wind turbine blade maintenance
including installation of various wind turbine blade performance
enhancements and improvements. Robotic capabilities being developed
include inspection, cleaning, sanding, blade repair, painting,
performance coatings, installation of vortex generators and noise
reduction products and installation of leading edge protection tape. The
company is looking for partners in the turbine manufacturing, O&M, and
drone inspection sectors who can benefit by using Robowind, and to host
field trials on onshore and offshore megawatt scale wind turbines
worldwide.
Cost Saving Design
The global wind industry loses over $4 billion per year due to
inefficient blades that have been damaged by the effects of dust, rain,
snow, ice, and corrosion from salt water and insect acids. Robotic blade
maintenance changes the economics of installing retrofits that in the
past may not have made financial sense due to the high cost of rope or
aerial lift access. This is especially significant for offshore
facilities where wind turbine blade maintenance and performance
enhancement work is typically dangerous, expensive, and desperately
needed. Unfortunately, physical access to wind turbine blades that are
offshore or hundreds of feet above the ground currently requires human
technicians to access the blades via ropes or high lift aerial cranes.
Work is slow, dangerous, and can only be completed when there are
optimal weather conditions. As a result, completing maintenance or
improvements on large wind farms can take several years before every
turbine has been serviced. Labor and blade access represent more than
80% of the costs for both blade maintenance and performance enhancement.
Wind Turbine Performance Enhancement
Robowind also is developing a Vortex Generator (VG) product in
collaboration with the CSULB Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Department. Wind tunnel testing and computational fluid dynamics
modeling of the product found that “the estimated increase in AEP using
the VG technology is 3% to 5% at zero pitch and up to 7% at 8 degree
pitch. These test results will be confirmed in field trials on megawatt
scale wind turbines within the next 45 days.
Strong Interest at the 2019 Houston AWEA Windpower Show
Over 115 visitors, including leading turbine manufacturers, O&M
providers, and both domestic and international turbine owners and
operators, stopped by the Robowind booth at the recent Windpower show to
see the robot and an animation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h35hD5Zg4VI
of it operating. There was unanimous praise for the capabilities of the
working prototype. The comments, feedback and interest from industry
participants in the various capabilities of the prototype far exceeded
expectations.
Path Forward
Robowind is an early stage technology company that has completed the
initial design and beta testing needed to implement their robotic
maintenance strategy. The company has also concluded initial research on
performance enhancing methodology and materials targeted for the wind
turbine blade industry. The company is now moving to their next phase,
from prototype to production, with initial field trials in mid-2019.
For more information about Robowind and our technologies, visit www.robowind.com
or contact Aaron Wahlstrom at aaron@robowind.com
(661) 477-0585 or Andy Zalay (949) 378-0807 andy@robowind.com
Disclaimer: This press release the website referenced in the
press release are intended to provide general information on the
activities of Robowind LLC and is not an offer to sell or a solicitation
of any offer to invest in Robowind or any of its products. Some of the
statements in this press release and on the website may be
forward-looking statements or statements of future expectations based on
currently available information. Such statements are naturally subject
to risks and uncertainties as Robowind LLC is still conducting research
and development into potential products.
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