Assessing damage to wind turbine blades to support autonomous inspection

We describe results from experiments investigating how hyperspectral data might be incorporated into autonomous inspections for offshore turbines, part of Dr SUIT– (Drone Swarm for Unmanned Inspection of Wind Turbines), a collaboration funded by InnovateUK (UKRI). Imagery and point measurements were captured of small turbine blades subjected to damage by abrasion, impact and UV exposure. The technique appears effective at classifying abrasion damage to a degree comparable with conventional inspection schemes. Impact damage could be classified as ‘lower’ or ‘higher’ energies. The blades designed resilience to UV meant that little change was detected in those tests.