Abstract
Mmaintenance of wind turbine farms is a huge task, with associated significant risks and potential hazard to the safety and wellbeing of people who are responsible for carrying the tower inspection tasks. Periodic inspections are required for wind turbine tower to ensure that the wind turbines are in full working order, with no signs of potential failure. Therefore, the development of an automated wind tower inspection system has been very crucial for the overall performance of the renewable wind power generation industry. In order to determine the life span of the tower, an investigation of robot design is discussed in this paper. It presents how a mechanical spring-loaded climbing robot can be designed and constructed to climb and rotate 360° around the tower. An adjustable circular shape robot is designed that allows the device to fit in different diameters of the wind generator tower. The rotational module is designed to allow the wheels to rotate and be able to go in a circular motion. The design further incorporates a suspension that allows the robot to go through any obstacle. This paper also presents afiniteelement spring stress analysis and Simulink control system model to find the optimal parameters that are required for the wind tower climbing robot.
Highlights
The industrialized nations are trying to legislate carbon zero emission by 2050
An automated climbing robot would be advantageous for the inspection of the wind tower
The common ways that the robot is used for climbing the wind tower of a structure are the following: adhesion methods with the use of magnets in the wheels that will provide a strong adhesion force to the tower and spring loaded adhesion method [2], [3]
Summary
The industrialized nations are trying to legislate carbon zero emission by 2050. This pledge can be achieved by changing the energy production from unrenewable to renewable energy such as wind power or have the capabilities to remove carbon particles from the atmosphere through a process called carbon offsetting. The common ways that the robot is used for climbing the wind tower of a structure are the following: adhesion methods with the use of magnets in the wheels that will provide a strong adhesion force to the tower and spring loaded adhesion method [2], [3] A different mechanism developed for inspection of cylindrical structures at London South Bank University consists of three modules joined in a triangular structure in which the robot can climb along the pipe, and the wheels can rotate 90° This can be done by using spring forces to grip around the tower and be able to climb [11], [12].
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