BladeBUG, a UK-based robotics company designing and developing inspection and repair robots for the wind industry, has announced its strategic collaboration with global non-destructive testing (NDT) specialist, FORCE Technology.
The joint project will see FORCE Technology produce custom NDT solutions for integration within BladeBUG's innovative crawler robot, which is specifically designed to maintain and inspect wind turbine blades.
Established in 2014, BladeBUG designs and develops compact crawler robots to help enhance the efficiency and profitability of wind turbines, in turn, supporting the acceleration of the green energy transition and a lower cost of energy. At the core of their progress over the last nine years has been a focus on research and development and collaboration with leading technology providers, end users and industry accelerators.
This latest co-operation with FORCE Technology is another example of BladeBUG’s emphasis on collaborative working. With over 30 years of industry experience, and renowned expertise in non-destructive testing, FORCE Technology are providing their P-scan ultrasonic composite scanning system, combined with BladeBUG's six-legged crawler robot, to enable a ground-breaking solution for remotely operated scanning of wind turbine blades, both on- and offshore.
The collaboration between BladeBUG and FORCE Technology will introduce a portable and efficient solution for up-tower in-service non-destructive testing of wind turbine blades.
With the integration of FORCE Technology's state-of-the-art automated ultrasonic scanning system, BladeBUG's crawler robot will be able to perform thorough inspections of critical structural parts, including spar caps, root areas, leading edges, trailing edges, and more. This advanced scanning capability ensures comprehensive detection of all relevant defect and damage types, such as wrinkles, debonding, delamination, and others, regardless of the blade's curvature.
One of the key advantages of this collaboration is the cost efficiency it offers. The deployment process is streamlined, allowing for fast and efficient inspections.
