Kawasaki Heavy Industries and BladeRobots have formed a strategic partnership to develop an automated solution for maintaining the leading edges of wind turbine blades, aiming to reduce manual labour and improve safety in offshore and onshore wind operations.
The companies said the system combines Kawasaki’s K-Racer unmanned helicopter with a blade maintenance robot, allowing automated inspection and repair work to be carried out directly on turbine blades. Under the concept, the helicopter lifts the robot onto the blade, where it performs maintenance tasks before being retrieved.
A demonstration test conducted at a wind farm in Denmark, with support from turbine manufacturer Vestas, confirmed the technical feasibility of the approach, including the ability to lift, place and recover the robot under strong wind conditions, the companies said.
“The demonstration test confirmed the technical feasibility of lifting, placing and retrieving the robot under strong wind conditions,” the companies said in a joint statement.
Kawasaki and BladeRobots said the partnership is intended to cut man-hours, enhance worker safety and ensure consistent maintenance quality, as the wind sector seeks to reduce operating costs and downtime.
The companies added that they will step up efforts toward deployment and commercialisation of the automated maintenance solution.
