COPENHAGEN - Wind turbine maintenance is an important yet unheralded task. But drones have arrived to spice things up. RigiTech is a Swiss drone manufacturer and operator boasting some of the most extensive beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flight authorizations in the industry. And it just completed a landmark test of its Eiger delivery system, flying spare parts to the Anholt Offshore Wind Farm, located 20 sm (17 nm) off the coast of Denmark. But there’s a catch—the drones didn’t need to land, Jack Daleo reports for Flying.
Continue reading original article.The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
12 July 2023 -The lack of necessary parts during turbine repairs can become costly, as it requires the service vessel to return to shore and back out, resulting in a significant time delay and consuming more than 500 litres of diesel fuel. RigiTech’s Eiger mounted with the dropping system can deliver spare parts to Anholt’s 111 offshore wind turbines within 30 minutes, ensuring same-day repair, enhanced safety for on-site technicians, and guaranteeing minimal turbine downtime.
Integrating drone delivery into existing workflows is possible with RigiCloud and the Eiger’s fully autonomous nature – local warehouse staff load the spare parts onto the drone, while the Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations are supervised remotely by Holo in Copenhagen, hundreds of kilometers away. Network-based video streaming from the Eiger provides live monitoring of each delivery, to both Holo and Ørsted warehouse staff.
Related: DroneUp completes first "smart city" drone delivery in Ontario, Calif.
Jamie Whitney, Senior Editor
Military + Aerospace Electronics
