Inspection of Floating Offshore Wind Turbines Using Multi-Rotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Literature Review and...

Area of Science:

• Renewable Energy Engineering
• Robotics and Automation
• Structural Health Monitoring

Background:

• Operations and maintenance (O&M) for floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) are costly, comprising over 30% of lifetime expenses due to labor and downtime.
• Harsh environmental conditions (wind, waves, tides) and high altitudes complicate FOWT inspections, necessitating advanced solutions.
• Existing inspection methods include manual checks, sensors, climbing robots, ROVs, and UAVs, each with limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the application of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for inspecting floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs).
• To highlight the potential of UAVs in reducing inspection costs and the overall cost of energy production.
• To review the current technical status, research gaps, and future directions for UAVs in FOWT inspection.

Main Methods:

• Comprehensive literature review of UAV applications in FOWT inspection over the past 10 years.
• Analysis of UAVs' use in inspecting other infrastructure (onshore wind turbines, bridges, power lines, solar plants, oil/gas fields).
• Discussion of UAV technology trends and their relevance to FOWT inspection.

Main Results:

• UAVs present a viable, efficient, and cost-effective method for FOWT inspections, addressing time and space constraints.
• The study identifies current technical capabilities and limitations of UAVs in this sector.
• Cross-industry applications provide insights into potential advancements for FOWT inspections.

Conclusions:

• UAVs are a promising technology for enhancing the efficiency and reducing the cost of FOWT operations and maintenance.
• Further research is needed to fully realize the potential of UAVs in the evolving FOWT industry.
• The integration of UAV technology is crucial for the economic viability of floating offshore wind energy.