System for diagnosing the safety of wind power generators using drones

Abstract

The present invention relates to a safety diagnostic system for a wind turbine using a drone, comprising: a drone that photographs the side of a wind turbine while moving up and down along a preset path at a location adjacent to a multi-stage wind turbine; a connecting part connected to the drone; a photographic data acquisition part that acquires photographic data from the drone; and a photographic data transmission part that transmits the photographic data to an administrator terminal.

Description

Technology Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a safety diagnostic system for a wind turbine using a drone, and more specifically, to a safety diagnostic system for a wind turbine using a drone that can increase the safety of the work environment and reduce labor costs by photographing the condition of a plurality of fastening parts formed along the height direction of a wind turbine being installed using a drone and allowing this to be checked in real time at a manager terminal on the ground. Background Technology

[0002] Generally, wind turbines require periodic maintenance, such as cleaning, inspection, and deicing (the process of removing ice formed on the blades or tower), to prevent blade failure or accidents and to prevent the deterioration of the blades' aerodynamic performance due to contamination or breakage, or to prevent the deterioration of structural integrity due to surface contamination or damage to the tower and aging of the joints of each stage of the tower.

[0003] In particular, these wind turbines typically have tower heights of over 100m, with some reaching 130m. To install a wind turbine, four to five tower body sections of over 25m in height must be stacked and then fastened with bolts. At this time, the condition of the bolts, the number of bolts, and the presence of rust must be checked. However, there was a problem in that the difficulty and risk of the work were very high, as workers had to be suspended in the air, and labor costs for the installation work were inevitably very high. Prior art literature

[0004] Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2023-0174552 The problem to be solved

[0005] The present invention aims to solve the aforementioned problems by providing a wind turbine safety diagnosis system using a drone that can increase the safety of the work environment and reduce labor costs by photographing the condition of a plurality of fastening parts formed along the height direction of a wind turbine being installed using a drone and allowing this to be checked in real time at a manager terminal on the ground. means of solving the problem

[0006] A wind turbine safety diagnosis system (100) using a drone according to one embodiment of the present invention may include a drone (110) that moves up and down along a preset path at a location adjacent to a multi-stage wind turbine and photographs the side of the wind turbine, a connection unit (120) connected to the drone (110) via network communication, a photograph data acquisition unit (130) that acquires photograph data of the side of the wind turbine from the drone (110) via the connection unit (120), and a photograph data transmission unit (140) that is connected to a manager terminal via the connection unit (120) and transmits the acquired photograph data to the manager terminal.

[0007] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the drone (110) can generate the image data by moving along a preset path and capturing the bolt fastening status of the lower and upper sides of a plurality of fastening parts formed in the height direction on the wind turbine.

[0008] The drone (110) according to one embodiment of the present invention may include an upper camera (111) for photographing the bolt fastening state of the lower side of the plurality of fastening parts and a lower camera (112) for photographing the bolt fastening state of the upper side of the plurality of fastening parts.

[0009] The drone (110) according to one embodiment of the present invention may include an angle-adjustable camera (113) that sequentially photographs the bolt fastening status of the lower and upper sides of the plurality of fastening parts by automatically adjusting the angle according to the change in height when moving along a preset path.

[0010] A wind power generator safety diagnosis system (100) using a drone according to one embodiment of the present invention further includes a drone control unit (150) that controls the movement path and shooting position of the drone (110), and the drone control unit (150) can calculate the flight height of the drone (110) based on the height of each of the plurality of fastening parts and input it to the drone (110), and calculate the rotation radius of each of the fastening parts of the drone (110) based on the circumference of each of the plurality of fastening parts and input it to the drone (110).

[0011] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the shooting data transmission unit (140) can control the shooting data captured by the drone (110) to be directly transmitted from the drone (110) to the administrator terminal when a request for direct transmission of the shooting data is made from the administrator terminal. Effects of the invention

[0012] According to the present invention, by photographing the condition of the fastening part of a wind turbine located at a high altitude using a drone and enabling real-time verification on a manager terminal on the ground, it has the advantage of increasing the safety of the work environment and reducing labor costs.

[0013] In particular, according to the present invention, since it is possible to determine in real time during the installation process whether the fastening is perfect so that the ends of each stage match, whether the number of fastened bolts or the fastening state is normal, and whether rust has occurred on the fastening part, the installation completeness of the wind turbine can be dramatically increased. Brief explanation of the drawing

[0014] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a wind power generator safety diagnosis system (100) using a drone according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a drone (110). Figure 3 is a drawing showing the lower and upper sides of the fastening part being photographed through a drone (110). Figure 4 is a diagram showing the movement path of the drone (110). FIG. 5 is a drawing showing the flight height and turning radius of the drone (110) calculated through the drone control unit (150) in more detail. Specific details for implementing the invention

[0015] Hereinafter, specific details for implementing the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. However, in the following description, specific descriptions regarding widely known functions or configurations will be omitted if there is a risk that the gist of the present invention may be unnecessarily obscured.

[0016] In the attached drawings, identical or corresponding components are given the same reference numerals. Additionally, in the description of the following embodiments, the description of identical or corresponding components may be omitted. However, even if a description of a component is omitted, it is not intended that such component is not included in any embodiment.

[0017] The advantages and features of the disclosed embodiments and the methods for achieving them will become clear by referring to the embodiments described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below but can be implemented in various different forms, and these embodiments are provided merely to make the present invention complete and to fully inform those skilled in the art of the scope of the invention.

[0018] The terms used in this specification will be briefly explained, and the disclosed embodiments will be described in detail. The terms used in this specification have been selected to be as generally used as possible, taking into account their functions in the present invention; however, these terms may vary depending on the intent of those skilled in the relevant field, case law, the emergence of new technologies, etc. Additionally, in specific cases, terms may be arbitrarily selected by the applicant, and in such cases, their meanings will be described in detail in the relevant description of the invention. Therefore, the terms used in this invention should be defined not merely by their names, but based on their meanings and the overall content of the present invention.

[0019] In this specification, singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly specifies them as singular. Additionally, plural expressions include singular expressions unless the context clearly specifies them as plural. Throughout the specification, when a part is described as including a certain component, this means that, unless specifically stated otherwise, it does not exclude other components but may include additional components.

[0020] Additionally, the terms 'module' or 'part' as used in the specification refer to software or hardware components, and the 'module' or 'part' performs certain roles. However, the meaning of 'module' or 'part' is not limited to software or hardware. The 'module' or 'part' may be configured to reside in an addressable storage medium or configured to run on one or more processors. Thus, as an example, the 'module' or 'part' may include components such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components, and task components, and at least one of processes, functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuits, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, or variables. The components and the functions provided within the 'module' or 'part' may be combined into a smaller number of components and 'modules' or 'parts', or further separated into additional components and 'modules' or 'parts'.

[0021] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a wind power generator safety diagnosis system (100) using a drone according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0022] Referring to FIG. 1, a wind power generator safety diagnosis system (100) using a drone according to one embodiment of the present invention may largely include a drone (110), a connection unit (120), a shooting data acquisition unit (130), a shooting data transmission unit (140), and a drone control unit (150).

[0023] First, the drone (110) can photograph the side of the wind turbine while moving up and down along a pre-set path at a location adjacent to the multi-stage wind turbine. More specifically, the wind turbine is usually installed upright to have a height of 100m or more. The body of such a wind turbine can be formed in multiple stages.

[0024] For example, a wind turbine may be configured to include a base section, which is a support installed at a certain height (e.g., 1 m) above the ground; first to fifth tower body sections, each installed on the upper side of the base section and having a height of approximately 25 m; and a power generation turbine and blades installed in the fifth tower body section. In this case, the number of first to fifth tower body sections is not limited, and the number of tower body sections or their individual heights may vary depending on the size and scale of the wind turbine.

[0025] Meanwhile, the first to fifth tower body sections have a shape in which the diameter gradually narrows from the bottom to the top, and a plurality of bolts are fastened at the parts (fastening parts) where the ends of the first to fifth tower body sections come into contact with each other, so that the first to fifth tower body sections can maintain an upright state relative to each other.

[0026] In one embodiment, there are four fastening parts between the first tower body part of the lowest level and the fifth tower body part of the highest level. Accordingly, the drone (110) moves upward from the first tower body part toward the fifth tower body part, captures the fastening status of the four fastening parts to generate shooting data, and transmits the generated shooting data to the shooting data acquisition unit (130) through the connection unit (120).

[0027] At this time, the drone (110) moves along a pre-set path and photographs the fastening status of the lower and upper sides of a plurality of fastening parts formed along the height direction of the wind turbine.

[0028] Additionally, if necessary, the drone (110) may move along a path based on manual operation by the operator. Situations may arise where a skilled operator must directly control the drone due to geomagnetic influences related to steel structures, and in such situations, the drone (110) may move according to the operator's manual operation.

[0029] And the aforementioned connection state may include the interlocking state of the ends of each tower body part, the number of fastened bolts, the degree of bolt tightening, and whether rust has occurred. Accordingly, the drone (110) sequentially photographs the lower and upper sides of the connection part between the first tower body part and the second tower body part, and by repeating the process of moving upward, it ultimately photographs the connection state of the lower and upper sides of all connection parts formed on the wind turbine.

[0030] Meanwhile, the drone (110) can photograph the lower and upper sides of the fastening part by rotating 360 degrees horizontally along the circumference (radius) of the fastening part, rather than hovering in one spot (fastening part) and photographing only the hovering point, while moving upward starting from the first tower body part. The movement path and shooting position of the drone (110) can be controlled by the drone control unit (150), which will be described later.

[0031] Additionally, in one embodiment, as the drone (110) moves upward starting from the first tower body at the lowest level, the first shooting point captured may correspond to the lower side of the first fastening part. To this end, a camera for capturing the lower and upper sides of the fastening part may be placed on the drone (110). This is described as follows.

[0032] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the drone (110), FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the state in which the lower and upper sides of the fastening part are photographed through the drone (110), and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the movement path of the drone (110).

[0033] Referring to FIGS. 2 to 4, the system may include an upper camera (111) that captures the bolt fastening status of the lower side of the fastening part. The upper camera (111) may be installed on one side of the drone (110) so as to face upward at an angle of approximately 45 degrees. The upper camera (111) may automatically start capturing images as the drone (110) moves upward, starting from the first tower body at the lowest level. At this time, when the lower side of the first fastening part is captured within the shooting angle (e.g., 45 degrees upward) of the upper camera (111), the drone (110) stops moving upward and slowly rotates 360 degrees along the lower circumference of the first fastening part while fixing the corresponding hovering point. In this case, the upper camera (111) continues to capture images of the lower side of the first fastening part to generate captured data. When the drone (110) completes a 360-degree rotation and returns to its original hovering point, the drone (110) moves upward again toward the upper side of the first connecting part.

[0034] At this time, a lower camera (112) for photographing the bolt fastening status on the lower side of the fastening part may be positioned on one side of the drone (110). The lower camera (112) may be installed so as to face downward at an angle of approximately 45 degrees from one side of the drone (110). The lower camera (112) may automatically start filming as the drone (110) passes the lower side of the first fastening part and moves upward. At this time, when the upper side of the first fastening part is captured within the shooting angle of the lower camera (112) (e.g., 45 degrees downward), the drone (110) stops moving upward again and slowly rotates 360 degrees along the upper circumference of the first fastening part while fixing the corresponding hovering point. In this case, the lower camera (112) continues to photograph the upper side of the first fastening part to generate filming data. When the drone (110) completes a 360-degree rotation and returns to its original hovering point, the drone (110) moves upward again toward the second connecting part (meaning a connecting part located above the first connecting part).

[0035] Accordingly, such upward movement of the drone (110) and the shooting operation of the upper and lower cameras (111, 112) can be automatically and repeatedly performed up to the uppermost fastening part. In addition, in one embodiment, such upward movement of the drone (110) and the shooting operation of the upper and lower cameras (111, 112) can be automatically controlled under the control of the drone control unit (150) described later. This will be described later.

[0036] Meanwhile, in one embodiment, one side of the drone (110) may include an angle-adjustable camera (113) that sequentially captures the fastening status of the lower and upper sides of the fastening section by automatically adjusting the angle according to the change in height as the drone (110) moves upward from the lowest fastening section toward the highest fastening section.

[0037] Unlike the upper camera (111) or lower camera (112) described earlier, the angle-adjustable camera (113) is not fixed at an upward or downward angle, but can automatically adjust its angle from upward to downward and from downward to upward depending on the height change of the drone (110).

[0038] For example, the angle-adjustable camera (113) can automatically start filming as the drone (110) moves upward starting from the first tower body at the lowest level. At this time, the angle-adjustable camera (113) can automatically adjust its angle so that it faces upward when the drone (110) moves upward. If the lower side of the first connection part is captured within the shooting angle of the angle-adjustable camera (113), the drone (110) stops moving upward and slowly rotates 360 degrees along the lower circumference of the first connection part while fixing the corresponding flight point. In this case, the angle-adjustable camera (113) continues to film the lower side of the first connection part while fixing the current shooting angle to generate filming data. When the 360-degree rotation of the drone (110) is completed and it returns to its original flight point, the drone (110) moves upward again toward the upper side of the first connection part.

[0039] Additionally, as the drone (110) moves upward past the lower side of the first connection part, the angle-adjustable camera (113) can be automatically adjusted to face downward. If the upper side of the first connection part is captured within the shooting angle of the angle-adjustable camera (113), the drone (110) stops moving upward and slowly rotates 360 degrees along the upper circumference of the first connection part while fixing the corresponding flight point. In this case, the angle-adjustable camera (113) continues to shoot the upper side of the first connection part while fixing the current shooting angle to generate shooting data. When the 360-degree rotation of the drone (110) is completed and it returns to its original flight point, the drone (110) moves upward again toward the second connection part (meaning a connection part located above the first connection part).

[0040] Meanwhile, the upper camera (111), lower camera (112), and angle-adjustable camera (113) installed on the drone (110) can be selectively applied depending on the shape and structure of the drone (110).

[0041] Next, the connection unit (120) is connected to the drone (110) via network communication and can receive shooting data generated by the drone (110) and transmit it to the shooting data acquisition unit (130). Here, the shooting data may be video data or image data.

[0042] In one embodiment, the connection part (120) checks whether the connected administrator terminal is a registered administrator terminal while connected to the administrator terminal, and if it is confirmed to be a registered administrator terminal, it may enable radio communication between the administrator terminal and the worker terminal (e.g., a walkie-talkie) held by the worker performing the installation work.

[0043] The shooting data acquisition unit (130) can acquire shooting data of the side of the wind turbine from the drone (110) through this connection unit (120). The shooting data acquisition unit (130) can provide the acquired shooting data to the shooting data transmission unit (140).

[0044] The shooting data transmission unit (140) can transmit the shooting data acquired through the shooting data acquisition unit (130) to the administrator terminal. Additionally, in one embodiment, when the shooting data transmission unit (140) requests direct transmission of shooting data from the administrator terminal, the unit can transmit an instruction signal to the drone (110) through the connection unit (120) so that the shooting data captured by the drone (110) is transmitted directly to the administrator terminal without passing through the shooting data acquisition unit (130). Upon receiving such an instruction signal, the drone (110) can transmit the shooting data to the administrator terminal in real time as soon as it is generated.

[0045] The drone control unit (150) can control the movement path and shooting location of the drone (110) described above. This is described as follows.

[0046] FIG. 5 is a drawing showing the flight height and turning radius of the drone (110) calculated through the drone control unit (150) in more detail.

[0047] Looking at FIG. 5, the drone control unit (150) can control the movement path of the drone (110) as it moves along the height direction of the wind turbine, and the shooting position (lower side, upper side) of the fastening part that is shot through the drone (110).

[0048] More specifically, the drone control unit (150) can calculate the distance the drone (110) needs to go up and the flight height of the drone (110) according to the height of each of the multiple fastening parts, and input this to the drone (110).

[0049] For example, when the tower body of a wind turbine is composed of first to fifth tower body parts, the drone control unit (150) can set the height of the base part (about 1 m), which is a support installed at a certain height above the ground, and the height of the first tower body part (about 25 m) as the first rising height, set the height of the second tower body part (about 25 m) from the first rising height as the second rising height, set the height of the third tower body part (about 25 m) from the second rising height as the third rising height, and set the height of the fourth tower body part (about 25 m) from the third rising height as the fourth rising height. The drone control unit (150) can input an input signal for the first to fourth rising heights set in this way to the drone (110) through the connection unit (120), so that the drone (110) moves according to this input signal. In this process, the drone control unit (150) may additionally reflect a variable height of 1m to 3m in the first ascent height in addition to the height of the base unit and the height of the first tower body unit when setting the first ascent height.

[0050] At this time, the adjustable height can be set by the drone (110) as the drone (110) moves upward. For example, when the drone (110) has moved to the first connection point according to a signal for the first ascent height, if it is determined that the current flight height of the drone (110) is relatively high or low and the shooting angle of the connection point is inaccurate, the drone (110) can adjust the flight height itself within a range of 1m to 3m. This adjustable height can be reflected in all of the first to fourth ascent heights.

[0051] Additionally, the drone control unit (150) can calculate the radius of rotation for each fastening part of the drone (110) based on the circumference of each fastening part and input it to the drone (110).

[0052] For example, when the tower body of a wind turbine is composed of first to fifth tower body parts, the drone control unit (150) can set the rotation radius of each of the first, second, third, and fourth fastening parts to the first to fourth rotation radius. In this case, the drone control unit (150) can set the first rotation radius by calculating the outer diameter size of the first fastening part * 2 (or 3). Additionally, the drone control unit (150) can set the second rotation radius by calculating the outer diameter size of the second fastening part * 2 (or 3). Additionally, the drone control unit (150) can set the third rotation radius by calculating the outer diameter size of the third fastening part * 2 (or 3). Additionally, the drone control unit (150) can set the fourth rotation radius by calculating the outer diameter size of the fourth fastening part * 2 (or 3). The drone control unit (150) can input an input signal for the first to fourth rotation radius set in this way to the drone (110) through the connection unit (120), so that the drone (110) can rotate along the circumference of the connection unit according to this input signal.

[0053] Although the present invention has been described in relation to some embodiments, various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as understood by a person skilled in the art to which the invention pertains. Furthermore, such modifications and changes should be considered to fall within the scope of the claims appended to this specification. Explanation of the symbols

[0055] 100: Wind turbine safety inspection system using drones 110: Drone 111: Upper camera 112: Lower camera 113: Adjustable Camera 120: Connection 130: Shooting data acquisition unit 140: Shooting data transmission unit 150: Drone control unit (150)

Claims

Claim 1 A drone (110) that moves up and down along a preset path at a location adjacent to a multi-stage wind turbine and photographs the side of the wind turbine; a connection unit (120) connected to the drone (110) via network communication; a photographic data acquisition unit (130) that acquires photographic data of the side of the wind turbine from the drone (110) via the connection unit (120); and a photographic data transmission unit (140) that is connected to an administrator terminal via the connection unit (120) and transmits the acquired photographic data to the administrator terminal. and a drone control unit (150) that controls the movement path and shooting position of the drone (110); wherein the drone (110) generates shooting data by shooting the bolt fastening status of a plurality of fastening parts formed in the height direction on the wind turbine while moving along a preset path, and the drone (110) includes an angle-adjustable camera (113) that sequentially shoots the bolt fastening status of the lower and upper sides of the plurality of fastening parts by automatically adjusting the angle according to the height change when moving along the preset path;The wind turbine includes, wherein the tower body portion of the wind turbine is composed of first to fifth tower body portions, and the drone control unit (150) calculates the distance the drone (110) must ascend upward and the flight height of the drone (110) according to the height of each fastening portion based on the height of each of the plurality of fastening portions, and inputs this to the drone (110), wherein the height of the base portion installed at a certain height above the ground and the height of the first tower body portion are set as the first ascent height, the height of the second tower body portion from the first ascent height is set as the second ascent height, the height of the third tower body portion from the second ascent height is set as the third ascent height, and the height of the fourth tower body portion from the third ascent height is set as the fourth ascent height, and the drone control unit (150) calculates the rotation radius for each fastening portion of the drone (110) based on the circumference of each fastening portion and inputs this to the drone (110), wherein the first tower A wind turbine safety diagnosis system using a drone, characterized by calculating twice the outer diameter of the connection part between the body part and the second tower body part to set a first rotation radius, calculating twice the outer diameter of the connection part between the second tower body part and the third tower body part to set a second rotation radius, calculating twice the outer diameter of the connection part between the third tower body part and the fourth tower body part to set a third rotation radius, calculating twice the outer diameter of the connection part between the fourth tower body part and the fifth tower body part to set a fourth rotation radius, wherein the drone (110) rises according to a signal input by the drone control unit (150) and rotates along the outer circumference of each connection part. Claim 2 delete Claim 3 delete Claim 4 delete Claim 5 A wind turbine safety diagnosis system using a drone, wherein, in claim 1, the above-mentioned shooting data transmission unit (140) controls the shooting data captured by the drone (110) to be directly transmitted from the drone (110) to the administrator terminal when the direct transmission of the shooting data is requested from the administrator terminal.

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