SkySpecs, an award-winning provider of robotics solutions for the wind energy industry, has successfully completed an automated inspection of the world’s largest offshore wind turbine at Ørsted‘s (formerly DONG Energy) Burbo Bank Extension, in the Irish Sea. Ørsted says the testing and automated inspection of the 8-MW offshore turbine was an important step in gaining confidence…
Skyspecs’ CEO talks drones for wind-turbine O&M
In this episode of WindTalk podcast, we discuss drones for wind-turbine blade and tower inspections. Our expert guest is Danny Ellis, CEO of SkySpecs, a company that offers drone inspections for wind turbines, combined with intuitive software that allows for high-quality data capture. In fact, SkySpecs offers a 15-minute automated robotic inspection, which we touch…
Drone and AI companies partner to provide automated wind-turbine inspections
Ardenna and HUVRdata have partnered to provide fully automated defect detection, reporting, and analytics to the energy sector. This enhanced platform unites Ardenna’s AI-based automated defect detection software with HUVR’s Automation and Enterprise Industrial Asset Management Reporting and Analytic toolset to provide customers with a state-of-the-art industrial asset inspections. The partnership was initially announced in…
SkySpecs unveils new turbine management and analytics product
SkySpecs has launched a new wind-turbine analytics and management software that will support automating the analysis, creation, and execution of preventative-maintenance programs on wind farms. Horizon enables all key players in the wind-energy industry to ground their turbine-maintenance and -repair processes in a consistent, ongoing cycle of data collection, analysis, and planning to optimize repair…
Texo DSI becomes partner of HOME Offshore
Texo Drone Survey and Inspection Limited (Texo DSI) has announced that it has become an industrial partner of HOME Offshore (Holistic Operation and Maintenance for Energy from Offshore Wind Farms). HOME Offshore is a research project funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) which partners five leading UK universities. The project…
New Ardenna venture to offer drone inspections of wind turbines
On the heels of its groundbreaking success with BNSF Railway in the achievement of truly automated long-range UAS supplemental track inspections, Bihrle Applied Research (Bihrle) announced that it is spinning-off its computer vision and machine learning capabilities in a new venture called Ardenna. Ardenna will offer solutions for the automated detection, classification, and reporting of…
Xcel Energy announces an industry first for drone inspections
Xcel Energy says it will be the first utility in the nation to routinely fly unmanned aircraft beyond the operator’s line of sight when it begins surveying transmission lines near Denver, Colorado. Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration announced it authorized the flights. The FAA’s decision to allow these flights is unprecedented in the utility…
Oceaneering International to provide Van Oord with offshore wind ROV services
Oceaneering International announced that it secured a three-year frame agreement with Van Oord Offshore Wind, an international dredging, marine engineering, and offshore contractor. The new agreement relates to Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) and trenching support services. As part of this agreement, Oceaneering has agreed to install one work class ROV onboard Van Oord’s cable-laying vessel, the Nexus, for…
Sion Power to produce Licerion rechargeable batteries for EVs & drones
Sion Power, a developer of lithium battery technology, announced production will begin on their patented Licerion rechargeable lithium metal battery at its Tucson facility in late 2018. The Licerion rechargeable lithium metal technology will offer the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and electric vehicle (EV) markets an unparalleled 500 Wh/kg, 1,000 Wh/L, and 450 cycles…
2018 commercial drone industry predictions
2017 was the biggest year for commercial drones yet. We saw drones used in almost every industry from archaeology to agriculture.
How to choose the right drone inspection service
Sending wind techs up-tower to inspect blades is a time-consuming and potentially dangerous task. Recent advancements in drone technology or UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) are slowly turning such labor-intensive maintenance efforts into a safer, more precise, and streamlined process. And wind companies are taking notice. For example, global energy companies such as Enel, E.On,…
SkySpecs secures $8M to develop advanced software for drone-led turbine inspections
SkySpecs, a drone inspection company, announced $8 million in Series B financing. The financing was led by Statkraft Ventures, with UL Ventures and Capital Midwest, with follow-on investments from Venture Investors, Huron River Ventures, and additional existing investors. Founders and Forbes 30 Under 30 honorees, Danny Ellis and Tom Brady, along with the SkySpecs team will use the investment to scale the company’s international operations and…
Ballard launches next-generation fuel-cell system for drones
Ballard Power Systems announced that the company has developed a next-generation fuel cell propulsion system to power unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones. Ballard has also received a follow-on contract from Insitu, a Boeing subsidiary, for extended durability testing of the 1.3-kW system to power test flights of its ScanEagle UAV platform. Ballard and Insitu…
Preparing for takeoff: A guide to drones
With on-demand data, your company can transform day-to-workflows, increase collaboration, and be more productive.
Early survey of best practices for use of small unmanned aerial systems by the Electric Utility Industry
This best practices manual is intended to help professionalize the safe and proper operation of UAS work.