Two Cambridge-based companies, Innvotek and Mapair, have successfully trialled a drone system that uses infrared technologies and artificial intelligence to inspect composite structures, including wind turbines and aircraft wings, for defects.
Firefly Inspect can hover above wind turbine blades and aircraft using a 1,000W heat lamp to test for defects – the first time that such a powerful heat source has been fitted to a drone.
Firefly Inspect was originally a concept for inspecting aeroplane wings when they are stationary within hangars. Thanks to a collaboration with the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, the technology has now been adapted to include inspection of on- and offshore wind turbines.
During recent trials at ORE Catapult’s National Renewable Energy Centre in Blyth (UK), the drones demonstrated their ability to hover autonomously and manoeuvre close to vertically suspended wind turbine blades. The active thermography module enabled...