Negative pressure adsorption climbing in-situ detection robot for runoff impeller of wind driven generator blade

Abstract

The utility model relates to a negative pressure adsorption climbing in-situ detection robot for a blade runoff impeller of a wind driven generator. The negative pressure adsorption climbing in-situ detection robot comprises a detection execution device, a free moving device, a negative pressure adsorption system, a control system and a power supply, the detection execution device comprises a high-definition camera and a camera bracket; the free moving device comprises a chassis, three wheel driving motors and omnidirectional wheels; the negative pressure adsorption system comprises a radial flow impeller, an impeller cover and an impeller driving motor; the control system controls the detection execution device and the free moving device through the control panel. The power supply supplies power to the motor and the control panel. The in-situ detection device is stably adsorbed on the blade of the wind driven generator and freely climbs and moves on the surface of the blade, the surface of the blade is detected through the high-definition camera, and in-situ detection operation on the surface of the blade is achieved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model belongs to the field of climbing robot technology, and specifically relates to a wind turbine blade runoff impeller negative pressure adsorption climbing in-situ detection robot. Background Technology

[0002] With the transformation of the global energy structure, wind energy, as a clean and renewable energy source, is accounting for an increasing proportion of electricity supply year by year. As the core equipment for wind energy utilization, the operating status of wind turbines directly affects power generation efficiency and safety. Wind turbine blades, as critical components, are exposed to complex environmental conditions for extended periods, making them susceptible to damage from wind and sand erosion, lightning strikes, fatigue cracks, and other factors. Therefore, regular inspection and maintenance of the blades are crucial.

[0003] Traditional blade inspection methods mainly rely on manual climbing or visual inspection or non-destructive testing (such as ultrasonic testing and infrared thermal imaging) using methods like suspended platforms and drones. However, these methods suffer from low efficiency, high cost, and poor safety, especially for large offshore wind turbine blades, where inspection is even more challenging. Therefore, developing a robotic technology capable of autonomously climbing and performing in-situ blade inspection has significant engineering application value and market potential.

[0004] Current Status and Challenges of Wind Turbine Blade Inspection

[0005] Currently, the following methods are mainly used for the inspection of wind turbine blades:

[0006] Manual inspection: Technicians approach the blades by climbing or using suspended baskets to conduct visual inspections or use handheld equipment. This method is labor-intensive, inefficient, and carries the risks of working at height.

[0007] Drone inspection: Drones equipped with cameras or sensors are used for aerial inspection, which is suitable for preliminary screening. However, due to limitations in battery life, wind resistance, and detection accuracy, it is difficult to perform detailed inspections.

[0008] Fixed detection equipment: Some wind farms install fixed sensors to monitor the condition of the blades, but this cannot cover all potential damage areas and lacks flexibility.

[0009] These methods all have limitations to varying degrees and cannot meet the needs of efficient, accurate, and safe testing of large wind turbine blades.

[0010] Technical challenges of blade inspection

[0011] Wind turbine blades are typically over 50 meters long, with smooth surfaces and complex curved structures, and face harsh environments such as strong winds and vibrations. Therefore, developing climbing robots requires solving the following key technical challenges:

[0012] Stable adsorption and movement: The surface material of the blade is mostly glass fiber reinforced composite material (GFRP), and traditional magnetic adsorption or vacuum adsorption methods are difficult to adapt to its smooth, non-magnetic surface.

[0013] Adaptation to complex curved surfaces: Blades have complex geometric features such as variable cross-section and twist angle, and robots need to have the ability to adapt to complex curved surfaces.

[0014] Detection accuracy and data transmission: The robot needs to be equipped with high-precision sensors and transmit detection data to the ground station in real time.

[0015] Market prospects and application value

[0016] With the rapid growth of global wind power installed capacity, the demand for wind turbine operation and maintenance (O&M) continues to expand. The climbing robot of this invention can significantly reduce inspection costs and improve O&M efficiency, and has broad market prospects.

[0017] Wind farm operation and maintenance: replacing high-risk manual inspections and reducing safety accidents;

[0018] Blade manufacturers: Used for quality inspection before shipment to improve product reliability;

[0019] Insurance and appraisal agencies: provide objective and accurate reports on the health status of the leaves.

[0020] Therefore, this utility model patent proposes a wind turbine blade runoff impeller negative pressure adsorption climbing in-situ inspection robot, which aims to reduce the risk of manual high-altitude operations, reduce wind turbine operation and maintenance costs, detect early cracks inside the wind turbine blade material, and take corresponding remedial measures. Utility Model Content

[0021] To address the aforementioned technical problems, the purpose of this utility model is to provide a wind turbine blade runoff impeller negative pressure adsorption climbing in-situ inspection robot, which can stably adsorb onto a wind turbine blade with a certain curvature through a negative pressure adsorption system (3), and freely climb and move on the surface of the wind turbine blade. The robot can detect the wind turbine blade by controlling the movement of the high-definition camera (6) in the detection execution device (1) through the free movement device (2), thereby realizing in-situ inspection operation on the surface of the wind turbine blade.

[0022] To achieve the above objectives, this utility model provides the following technical solution:

[0023] A wind turbine blade runoff impeller negative pressure adsorption climbing in-situ detection robot includes a detection execution device (1), a free movement device (2), a negative pressure adsorption system (3), a control system (5), and a power supply (4).

[0024] The detection execution device (1) includes a high-definition camera (6) and a camera bracket (7).

[0025] The camera bracket (7) of the detection execution device (1) is fixed on the chassis (8), and the high-definition camera (6) is mounted on the camera bracket (7).

[0026] The free-moving device (2) includes a chassis (8), a wheel drive motor (10), and omnidirectional wheels (9).

[0027] The three identical wheel drive motors (10) of the free-moving device (2) are fixed on the chassis (8). The shafts of the wheel drive motors (10) are rigidly connected to the omnidirectional wheels (9). The three omnidirectional wheels (9) are coplanar with the central axis of the wheel drive motors (10) and are symmetrically distributed at 120° to each other. The three omnidirectional wheels (9) are distributed in this way because three points determine a plane. This distribution method can ensure that the three wheels can simultaneously contact the surface of the wind turbine blades with a certain curvature, thus improving the stability of the free-moving device (2). When the three wheel drive motors (10) rotate at the same speed, the robot can turn in place and simultaneously drive the high-definition camera (6) to turn in place. When two wheel drive motors (10) rotate at the same speed and one wheel drive motor (10) is not driven, the robot can move forward and backward and simultaneously drive the high-definition camera (6) to move forward and backward.

[0028] The negative pressure adsorption system (3) includes an impeller drive motor (14), a radial impeller (12), an impeller cover (13), and a chassis (8) with an air inlet (11).

[0029] The negative pressure adsorption system (3) drives the radial impeller (12) to rotate through the impeller drive motor (10). Air enters the impeller (12) from the air inlet (11) and flows out radially from the impeller cover (13), creating a negative pressure area near the air inlet (11), thereby enabling the robot to be stably adsorbed on the surface of the non-magnetic fan blade with a certain curvature.

[0030] The control system (5) controls the detection execution device (1) and the free movement device (2) through the control board, which is fixed on the chassis (8);

[0031] The power supply (4) provides power to the detection and execution device (1), the negative pressure adsorption system (3), the control system (5) and the free movement device (2), and is fixed on the chassis (8).

[0032] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of this utility model are as follows:

[0033] This utility model relates to a negative pressure adsorption climbing in-situ inspection robot for wind turbine blades and impellers. Utilizing a negative pressure adsorption method, it can adapt to the curved surfaces of wind turbine blades and can adhere to non-magnetic blade surfaces. Its simple structure and unique design, along with the chosen adsorption method, enable the robot to climb and operate on vertical wind turbine blade surfaces and other non-magnetic materials (such as glass curtain walls and walls), making it widely applicable. The robot employs unique omnidirectional wheels with a modular design featuring "coplanar central axes, symmetrically distributed at 120° intervals," allowing it to adapt to curved surfaces while possessing excellent turning, forward, and backward capabilities. The inspection execution device uses a high-definition camera fixed to the chassis via a camera bracket. The camera's in-situ turning and forward / backward movement functions are achieved through a free-moving mechanism, minimizing overall weight while meeting the practical requirements of the inspection. The flattened design maximizes the utilization of the robot's chassis and minimizes its overall height. The power system, control system, and detection execution devices are fixed to the chassis and distributed at 120° intervals. This distribution lowers the robot's center of gravity, resulting in a smaller suction force from the negative pressure adsorption system, allowing the robot to stably adhere to the wind turbine blade surface. This project proposes a robot to replace manual labor and drones for inspecting wind turbine blades. It can be widely applied to the operation and maintenance of wind turbines, utilizing high-definition cameras and other inspection equipment. Attached Figure Description

[0034] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application or the prior art, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are merely some examples or embodiments of this application. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on the provided drawings without creative effort, and this application can be applied to other similar scenarios based on the provided drawings. Unless obvious from the linguistic context or otherwise specified, the same reference numerals in the drawings represent the same structures or operations.

[0035] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the in-situ detection robot for the runoff impeller of a wind turbine blade according to the present invention.

[0036] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram showing the relative positions of the components of the in-situ detection robot for the negative pressure adsorption and climbing of the wind turbine blade runoff impeller according to this utility model.

[0037] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the detection execution device and negative pressure adsorption system of this utility model.

[0038] The reference numerals in the attached figures are:

[0039] 1. Detection and execution device;

[0040] 2. Freely movable device;

[0041] 3. Negative pressure adsorption system;

[0042] 4. Power supply;

[0043] 5. Control system;

[0044] 6 high-definition cameras;

[0045] 7. Camera bracket;

[0046] 8. Chassis;

[0047] 9 omnidirectional wheels;

[0048] 10-wheel drive motor;

[0049] 11 air intake ports;

[0050] 12. Radiation impeller;

[0051] 13 Impeller shroud;

[0052] 14. Impeller drive motor. Detailed Implementation

[0053] The present application will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It is to be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the application and not intended to limit it. The described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, and not all of them. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present application without inventive effort are within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0054] It should be noted that, for ease of description, only the parts relevant to the application are shown in the accompanying drawings. Unless otherwise specified, the embodiments and features described in this application can be combined with each other.

[0055] It should be understood that the terms "system," "apparatus," "unit," and / or "module" used in this application are a method of distinguishing different components, elements, parts, sections, or assemblies at different levels. However, if other terms can achieve the same purpose, they may be replaced by other expressions.

[0056] As indicated in this application and claims, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the words "a," "an," "a," and / or "the" are not specifically singular and may include the plural. Generally, the terms "comprising" and "including" only indicate the inclusion of expressly identified steps and elements, which do not constitute an exclusive list, and the method or apparatus may also include other steps or elements. An element defined by the phrase "comprising an..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, product, or apparatus that includes the element.

[0057] In the description of the embodiments of this application, unless otherwise stated, " / " means "or", for example, A / B can mean A or B; "and / or" in this document is merely a description of the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A existing alone, A and B existing simultaneously, and B existing alone. Furthermore, in the description of the embodiments of this application, "multiple" refers to two or more.

[0058] Hereinafter, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature.

[0059] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0060] like Figure 1 As shown, a wind turbine blade runoff impeller negative pressure adsorption climbing in-situ detection robot includes a detection execution device (1), a free movement device (2), a negative pressure adsorption system (3), a control system (5), and a power supply (4).

[0061] like Figure 2 As shown, the control system (5) controls the detection execution device (1), the negative pressure adsorption system (3), and the free movement device (2) via a control board, and is fixed on the robot chassis (8); the power supply (4) supplies power to the detection execution device (1), the negative pressure adsorption system (3), and the free movement device (2), and is fixed on the robot chassis (8). The detection execution device (1), the control system (5), and the power supply (4) are fixed on the chassis (8), and are distributed at 120° to each other.

[0062] like Figure 3 As shown, the detection execution device (1) includes a high-definition camera (6) and a camera bracket (7).

[0063] The camera bracket (7) of the detection execution device (1) is fixed on the chassis (8), and the high-definition camera (6) is mounted on the camera bracket (7).

[0064] like Figure 3 As shown, the negative pressure adsorption system (3) includes an impeller drive motor (14), a radial impeller (12), an impeller cover (13), and a chassis (8) with an air inlet (11).

[0065] The negative pressure adsorption system (3) drives the radial impeller (12) to rotate through the impeller drive motor (14). Air enters the impeller (12) from the air inlet (11) and flows out radially from the impeller cover (13), creating a negative pressure area near the air inlet (11), thereby enabling the robot to be stably adsorbed on the surface of the non-magnetic fan blade with a certain curvature.

[0066] like Figure 2 As shown, the free-moving device (2) includes a chassis (8), a wheel drive motor (10), and omnidirectional wheels (9).

[0067] The three identical wheel drive motors (10) of the free-moving device (2) are fixed on the chassis (8). The shafts of the wheel drive motors (10) are rigidly connected to the omnidirectional wheels (9). The three omnidirectional wheels (9) are coplanar with the central axis of the wheel drive motors (10) and are symmetrically distributed at 120° to each other. The three omnidirectional wheels (9) are distributed in this way because three points determine a plane. This distribution method can ensure that the three omnidirectional wheels (9) can simultaneously contact the surface of the wind turbine blades with a certain curvature, thus improving the stability of the free-moving device (2). When the three wheel drive motors (10) rotate at the same speed, the robot can turn in place and drive the high-definition camera (6) to turn in place at the same time. When two wheel drive motors (10) rotate at the same speed and one wheel drive motor (10) is not driven, the robot can move forward and backward and drive the high-definition camera (6) to move forward and backward at the same time.

[0068] The working process of this utility model is as follows:

[0069] The wind turbine blade runoff negative pressure adsorption climbing in-situ detection robot of this invention is placed on the surface of the wind turbine blade and put into operation mode. The robot is adsorbed on the blade surface by the negative pressure adsorption system (3). The control system (5) controls the rotation speed of the three wheel drive motors (10) in the free movement device (2) to realize the robot's forward and backward movement and turning on the wind turbine blade surface. The shaft of the wheel drive motor (10) is rigidly connected to the omnidirectional wheel (9). The power of the wheel drive motor (10) is transmitted to the omnidirectional wheel (9) through the motor shaft. When the three wheel drive motors (10) rotate at the same speed, the robot realizes the free movement device (2) turning in place, and at the same time drives the high-definition camera (6) to turn in place; when the two wheel drive motors (10) rotate at the same speed and one wheel drive motor (10) is not driven, the robot realizes the free movement device (2) moving forward and backward, and at the same time drives the high-definition camera (6) to move forward and backward; when none of the three wheel drive motors (10) are driven, the robot realizes the free movement device (2) is stationary.

[0070] When the robot is attached to the surface of the wind turbine blade, after the working mode is turned on, the high-definition camera (6) captures the condition of the blade surface. The control system (5) transmits the information captured by the high-definition camera (6) to the ground. The staff judges whether the blade surface is damaged based on the information obtained, and judges the specific coordinates of the robot based on the information obtained, so as to accurately control the robot to reach the next working position.

[0071] Once all the testing is completed, the robot is returned to a safe position, and the staff turns it off to stop it from working. At this point, all the testing work is complete.

[0072] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of this application and an explanation of the technical principles employed, and is not intended to limit this application. Various modifications and variations can be made to this application by those skilled in the art. The scope of this application is not limited to technical solutions formed by specific combinations of the above-described technical features, but should also cover other technical solutions formed by arbitrary combinations of the above-described technical features or their equivalents without departing from the above-described application concept. For example, technical solutions formed by substituting the above features with (but not limited to) technical features with similar functions disclosed in this application.

Claims

1. A wind turbine blade runoff impeller negative pressure adsorption climbing in-situ detection robot, characterized in that, It includes a detection and execution device (1), a free movement device (2), a negative pressure adsorption system (3), a power supply (4), and a control system (5); The detection execution device (1) includes a high-definition camera (6) and a camera bracket (7). The camera bracket (7) of the detection execution device is fixed on the chassis (8), and the high-definition camera (6) is mounted on the camera bracket (7); The free-moving device (2) includes a chassis (8), a wheel drive motor (10), and omnidirectional wheels (9). The three identical wheel drive motors (10) of the free movement device (2) are fixed on the chassis (8). The shaft of the wheel drive motor (10) is rigidly connected to the omnidirectional wheel (9). The three omnidirectional wheels (9) are coplanar with the central axis of the wheel drive motor (10) and are symmetrically distributed at 120° to each other. When the three wheel drive motors (10) rotate at the same speed, the robot turns in place and drives the high-definition camera (6) to turn in place at the same time; when the two wheel drive motors (10) rotate at the same speed and one wheel drive motor (10) is not driven, the robot moves forward and backward and drives the high-definition camera (6) to move forward and backward at the same time. The negative pressure adsorption system (3) includes an impeller drive motor (14), a radial impeller (12), an impeller cover (13), and a chassis (8) with an air inlet (11). The negative pressure adsorption system (3) drives the radial impeller (12) to rotate via the impeller drive motor (14). Air enters the impeller (12) through the air inlet (11) and flows radially out from the impeller cover (13), creating a negative pressure area near the air inlet (11), thereby allowing the robot to stably adhere to the surface of the fan blades. The control system (5) controls the detection execution device (1) and the free movement device (2) through the control board, which is fixed on the chassis (8); The power supply (4) provides power to the detection and execution device (1), the free movement device (2), and the negative pressure adsorption system (3), and is fixed on the chassis (8).

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