K
Kathleen Martin
Guest
A number of countries across the world increasingly are turning to wind generated electricity as a way to combat climate change, creating new opportunities for the commercial drone industry and related businesses.
Using artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled drones and software, Nearthlab, a South Korea-based start-up company hopes to carve out a niche for itself in the rapidly growing global wind turbine inspection market.
“Amid the green energy boom, drone inspection has become a favorable option for the owners and operators of wind farms,” Jay Choi, Nearthlab’s CEO and co-founder, said in an interview.
With its autonomous drones, Nearthlab can conduct a drone inspection for a wind turbine in around fifteen minutes, far less time than that required for other inspection methods. The drone’s AI software allows the unmanned aerial vehicle to recognize the shape and position of the turbine’s blades and calculate the optimal flight path to conduct the inspection.
“Using computer vision and AI software, the drone consistently flies along the blade while maintaining a close and constant distance to capture the smallest details,” Choi said. During its flight, the drone collects data and takes high-resolution photos. Then it uploads the information package to a data management platform for analysis.
Once the data is received, the data management platform’s AI software will analyze it in order to detect any potential damages to the blades, and if it finds any defects the software will accurately determine the size and location of the damage, Choi said.
“The inspectors can utilize this data to help them manage the overall operations, the maintenance and repair jobs,” he said.
Combining space-age and down-to-earth technologies: drone inspection for wind turbines
Choi combined his education with aerospace engineering, with experience in the construction industry to come up with the inspiration for launching Nearthlab. A graduate of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Choi said he had first become interested in aerospace upon visiting NASA when he was younger. “I had a dream of making robots and rovers and exploring space,” he said.
After graduation, he worked as a process control and system engineer for Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co., where he learned that one of the most difficult and dangerous jobs on a construction site was infrastructure inspection.
“Back then it was common to see people climbing to reach the top of the chimney that soars over 300 feet, and they would be hanging to the structure by a single rope,” he said. “That’s when I started to see the potential for drones.”
Continue reading: https://dronelife.com/2021/08/26/drone-inspections-for-wind-turbines-in-as-little-as-15-minutes-korean-drone-software-company-nearthlab/
Using artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled drones and software, Nearthlab, a South Korea-based start-up company hopes to carve out a niche for itself in the rapidly growing global wind turbine inspection market.
“Amid the green energy boom, drone inspection has become a favorable option for the owners and operators of wind farms,” Jay Choi, Nearthlab’s CEO and co-founder, said in an interview.
With its autonomous drones, Nearthlab can conduct a drone inspection for a wind turbine in around fifteen minutes, far less time than that required for other inspection methods. The drone’s AI software allows the unmanned aerial vehicle to recognize the shape and position of the turbine’s blades and calculate the optimal flight path to conduct the inspection.
“Using computer vision and AI software, the drone consistently flies along the blade while maintaining a close and constant distance to capture the smallest details,” Choi said. During its flight, the drone collects data and takes high-resolution photos. Then it uploads the information package to a data management platform for analysis.
Once the data is received, the data management platform’s AI software will analyze it in order to detect any potential damages to the blades, and if it finds any defects the software will accurately determine the size and location of the damage, Choi said.
“The inspectors can utilize this data to help them manage the overall operations, the maintenance and repair jobs,” he said.
Combining space-age and down-to-earth technologies: drone inspection for wind turbines
Choi combined his education with aerospace engineering, with experience in the construction industry to come up with the inspiration for launching Nearthlab. A graduate of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Choi said he had first become interested in aerospace upon visiting NASA when he was younger. “I had a dream of making robots and rovers and exploring space,” he said.
After graduation, he worked as a process control and system engineer for Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co., where he learned that one of the most difficult and dangerous jobs on a construction site was infrastructure inspection.
“Back then it was common to see people climbing to reach the top of the chimney that soars over 300 feet, and they would be hanging to the structure by a single rope,” he said. “That’s when I started to see the potential for drones.”
Continue reading: https://dronelife.com/2021/08/26/drone-inspections-for-wind-turbines-in-as-little-as-15-minutes-korean-drone-software-company-nearthlab/
