Canadian Simulation Tech Company to Digitise, Test & Validate Aerial Deployment of Robotic Technology on Windfarms

The collaboration produced three-dimensional winds that were modelled and calibrated to known offshore wind farm parameters.

A virtual environment (Digital Twin) is used to prototype the deployment of robotic maintenance systems under different weather conditions.

One of the UK’s leading machine learning and applied AI Innovators specializing in the energy sector – Nottingham-based Cognitive Business – has announced it has successfully worked in collaboration with the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (OREC) and global simulation technology company, CAE, to deliver a proof of concept simulating the aerial deployment of robotics to an offshore windfarm.

Innovate UK and the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (OREC) are working with industry partners to lead the world into a new Green Industrial Revolution through investment in clean technologies. A collaborative effort utilizing wind energy targets an objective of quadrupling offshore wind capacity by 2030.

The DOME Project – Digital Operations and Maintenance Environment Project – comprises a consortium of companies, universities and Subject Matter Experts. DOME is focused on building an open simulation platform enabling complex system interactions to be tested and validated.

As part of this consortium, Cognitive and CAE worked together to provide test and validation for aerial deployment of robotic technology offshore using DOME. The collaboration produced three-dimensional winds that were modelled and calibrated to known offshore wind farm parameters. Wind, asset, and environmental interactions provided a simulation capable of delivering the complexity required to produce highly accurate and realistic flight conditions. The digital environment enabled the test and validation of a 4-prop ariel drone carrying a 25kg maintenance and inspection robot in winds up to 10m/s.

News | 27.7.2023