A robot-assisted large-scale inspection of wind turbine blades in manufacturing using an autonomous mobile manipulator
- Wind energy represents the dominant share of renewable energies. The rotor blades of a wind turbine are typically made from composite material, which withstands high forces during rotation. The huge dimensions of the rotor blades complicate the inspection processes in manufacturing. The automation of inspection processes has a great potential to increase the overall productivity and to create a consistent reliable database for each individual rotor blade. The focus of this paper is set on the process of rotor blade inspection automation by utilizing an autonomous mobile manipulator. The main innovations include a novel path planning strategy for zone-based navigation, which enables an intuitive right-hand or left-hand driving behavior in a shared human–robot workspace. In addition, we introduce a new method for surface orthogonal motion planning in connection with large-scale structures. An overall execution strategy controls the navigation and manipulation processes of the long-running inspection task. The implemented concepts are evaluated in simulation and applied in a real-use case including the tip of a rotor blade form.
Author: | Heiko Engemann, Patrick Cönen, Harshal Dawar, Shengzhi Du, Stephan Kallweit |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.3390/app11199271 |
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.21269/9860 |
ISSN: | 2076-3417 |
Parent Title (English): | Applied Sciences |
Publisher: | MDPI |
Place of publication: | Basel |
Document Type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Year of Completion: | 2021 |
Publishing Institution: | Fachhochschule Aachen |
Tag: | autonomous navigation; large-scale inspection; mobile manipulation; surface-orthogonal path planning; wind turbine production |
Volume: | 11 |
Issue: | 19 |
First Page: | 1 |
Last Page: | 22 |
Note: | Belongs to the Special Issue "Advances in Industrial Robotics and Intelligent Systems" |
Link: | https://doi.org/10.3390/app11199271 |
Zugriffsart: | weltweit |
Institutes: | FH Aachen / Fachbereich Maschinenbau und Mechatronik |
FH Aachen / MASKOR Institut für Mobile Autonome Systeme und Kognitive Robotik | |
open_access (DINI-Set): | open_access |
collections: | Verlag / MDPI |
Open Access / Gold | |
Licence (German): | Creative Commons - Namensnennung |