Wind Turbine Blade Spreader Tool with Bendable Wings
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems for servicing wind turbine blades, such as cleaning, painting, and maintenance, are costly, complex, and lack versatility, making them unsuitable for widespread commercial adoption.
Innovation Solution
A robotic system with a base and adjustable arm, equipped with tools like a dispenser and spreader, capable of moving freely along surfaces with multiple degrees of freedom, allowing for efficient application of materials on curved surfaces and easy tool attachment and detachment, utilizing a combination of actuators and attachment devices like suction cups and dry adhesives for secure attachment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If large-scale automated systems are used for blade servicing, then automation capability is improved, but production cost and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic system is divided into modular components: a base unit with attachment devices, an articulated arm with multiple degrees of freedom, and interchangeable tool modules. This segmentation allows the complex automated servicing function to be achieved through simpler, manageable modules that can be independently manufactured, maintained, and replaced, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining automation capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The robotic system is designed with universal attachment devices (suction cups, dry adhesives) and interchangeable tool modules that can perform multiple functions including cleaning, painting, inspection, and repair operations. This multi-functionality allows a single automated system to handle various blade servicing tasks without requiring separate specialized equipment for each function, thereby reducing system complexity and production costs.
2Reliability
If specialized servicing systems are designed for specific tasks, then task performance is improved, but versatility and adaptability decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic arm incorporates multiple degrees of freedom with adjustable actuators that enable dynamic adaptation to different blade geometries, curvatures, and orientations. The attachment devices can be actively adjusted to maintain optimal contact with the blade surface during various operations. This dynamic capability allows the system to reliably perform specialized tasks while adapting to diverse blade configurations and servicing requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs adjustable parameters including arm extension length, attachment force magnitude, tool positioning coordinates, and operational speed profiles. These parameters can be modified through control systems to optimize performance for specific tasks while maintaining versatility across different blade types and servicing operations, resolving the contradiction between specialized performance and general adaptability.
3Ease of manufacture
If fixed-configuration robotic arms are used, then manufacturing cost is reduced, but adaptability to various blade curvatures decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic arm is equipped with multiple adjustable actuators that enable dynamic reconfiguration of arm segments to match various blade curvatures and geometries. This dynamic adjustability allows a single arm design to accommodate different wind turbine blade types without requiring custom-manufactured arms for each application, thereby maintaining ease of manufacture while achieving high adaptability to surface variations.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system provides a cost-effective, versatile, and reliable solution for servicing wind turbine blades, enabling efficient material application and adaptation to various surface curvatures, while minimizing weight and production costs, and allowing for remote operation.
Implementation Method 1
The base comprises a plurality of suction cups for creating a vacuum
Implementation Method 2
The remote end of the arm is provided with an attachment device in the form of a dry adhesive pad
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2a~2b
Figure 2c~3
AI summary
A spreader tool is provided for spreading viscous material on the surface (5'), for example an edge (5''), of a wind turbine blade (5). The spreader tool (52) comprises at least one bendable spreader wing (54A, 54B), for example provided as a fin-ray construction, for pressing a flexible band (53) against a curved section of the blade (5) and for dragging viscous material along it by the flexible band during movement of the spreader tool (52) along the blade (5) surface (5'). The spreader tool is advantageously part of a robot system used to work the surface (5') of the blade (5).