This photo provided by Nearthlab shows an autonomous drone inspecting wind turbines at a wind farm.
SEOUL, Dec. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — To fix or maintain blades of hundreds of large wind turbines at a vast wind farm, it probably takes much time and is dangerous as mechanics have to climb up to the tubular steel towers with a height of more than 100 meters and examine the blades one by one.
Choi Jay-hyuk, co-founder and CEO of Nearthlab, a Korean startup for industrial autonomous drones, said unmanned aircraft can improve the time-consuming and labor-intensive processes in which people look into the huge industrial structures while hanging onto a rope.
“For decades, people have just looked for better ways to help people go up to the tower in an easier and safer way,” he said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency. “An autonomous drone will be the perfect solution for it.”
Founded in 2015, Nearthlab developed the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered navigation and operational software that makes drones autonomously fly and gather data.
Choi, who once worked at Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co., now renamed as Doosan Enerbility Co., found out that such autonomous drones would meet demand from large-scale industrial sites like wind farms, dams and bridges by helping operators conduct routine maintenance, oversee safe and secure operations and detect mechanic failures.
In particular, he focused on wind power stations because it usually takes around six hours for two or three workers to carry out a checkup on a turbine.
Without a ground-based controller or a human pilot on site, Nearthlab’s unmanned aerial vehicles approach some 5 meters close to the structure and take hundreds of high-definition photos to capture the entire image of it.
He said Nearthlab’s drone and software reduce the time to 15 minutes and the risk of accidents as well.
Choi Jay-hyuk, co-founder and CEO of Nearthlab, is seen in this photo provided by the company
His company also provides comprehensive solutions for maintenance based on data-driven analytics collected by the drones and encourages operators to prepare for possible incidents.
“Drones cannot replace all human work, but they scan the site in a short time and give the data to help people start their planning for repairs and maintenance,” Choi said.
“Our drones can fly as high as the law allows, so they reach the top of all tall structures or towering buildings.”
Some 60 percent of South Korea’s wind farms have been clients of Nearthlab since the startup began its wind turbine examination business in 2019, he said.
South Korea has 109 wind farms as of end-2021 with a combined capacity of 1,705 megawatts, according to the Korea Wind Energy Industry Association.
The company has also gone through drone-led inspection projects for bridges and dams in cooperation with public institutions, including Korea Electric Power Corp., the Korean Authority of Land and Infrastructure Safety and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co.
Crew members of Nearthlab pose for a photo during the Cleanpower 2022, an annual conference and exhibition event for the global renewable energy industry organized by the American Clean Power Association, held in May in San Antonio, Texas, in this photo provided by the company.
Moreover, its business horizon has been expanding overseas.
It has worked with the top three global wind turbine manufacturers of Siemens Gamesa, General Electric Co. and Vestas Wind Systems over the past three years.
For better service, it opened regional offices in the United States and Germany last year.
“This year, we joined hands with the German engineering firm to inspect the Siemens Gamesa-built power plants in 15 countries,” Choi said. “Nearthlab must be the company that examines the most number of Siemens’ turbines in the world.”
Now, it provides services in 25 countries across the world, including 15 European nations.
The 35-year-old businessman said his company is now eying to expand its business portfolio further in the coming years.
“It makes it possible to do any business when autonomous flight is combined with big data,” he said.
“For example, demand for unmanned inspection and surveying is growing in sectors like military and public safety. Nearthlab is the company that helps the operators do this work better and easier.”
(Yonhap)
