Embodiments according to a first and second aspect of the present invention are based on the core idea of flying along the object for detecting a feature of an object and detecting at least a part of the object with a capturing unit with a first resolution and providing, for those areas of the object that comprise the feature, images with the second resolution that is higher than the first resolution.

An integrated robotic repair system for repairing a surface is described. The said system comprising: a base translation system (110), said system comprising a multistage platform; a repair module (150), said module coupled to the translation system (110) to move the module (150) relative to the base translation system (110); an end effector selector system coupled to the repair module, said selector system comprising end effector repair tools (360, 362, 366), each tool (360, 362, 366) configured to undertake a repair task on the surface; and deployable legs (120), said legs (120) coupled to the base translation system (110) and configured to engage and disengage from the surface to allow the system to walk along surface.

Turbines, including fluid driven turbines, including wind turbines, do not always operate to their maximum capability due to sub-optimal selection of various possible parameters. Therefore there is industrial advantage in systems which can calculate, adjust or constrain such parameters in order to improve the productivity of turbines. New data also allows for new control methodologies. Such systems may be established through the provision of relevant data. The overall productivity of turbines may be improved, or increased, by extending the lifetime of the turbine, or by increasing the average power output during its lifetime, or reducing maintenance costs. One particular example of turbine under-performance has been observed by the present author for wind turbines operating in hilly terrain such as frequently found on Scottish wind farms but also in many locations around the world. Hilly terrain, or complex terrain, results in complex wind flow and energy production losses when control systems are not best designed to handle such flow. Although complex flow may arise for other reasons, such as complex weather or storms (both onshore and offshore), the complex flow due to complex terrain is always present for many turbines and therefore impacts productivity throughout their operational lifetime. Complex fluid flow data may be measured by instruments including converging beam Doppler LIDAR which is especially advantageous in providing three-dimensional fluid velocity data. Therefore the provision of data allows for control parameter adjustment to account for operational variables including fluid characteristics. Therefore the control parameters may be adjusted in order to better control a turbine for its local conditions. This allows for greater generation of renewable energy. Derivations thereof may also be applied to improve operational parameters of vehicles, including vehicles incorporating a rotor, as well as aircraft and spacecraft launching or operating within a fluid. This offers better vehicle control and improved safety.

The present application provides a control method and a control device (710) for a wind turbine (720). The control method includes: acquiring incoming wind information of the wind turbine (720); determining whether there is a sector with a complex wind condition around the wind turbine (720) based on the acquired incoming wind information; in response to determining that there is a sector with a complex wind condition around the wind turbine (720), performing feed-forward load reduction control on the wind turbine (720) based on the complex wind condition.

A wind turbine rotor blade imaging arrangement is provided, including a multi-axis gimbal mounted to the exterior of the wind turbine and configured to adjust its orientation in response to one or more received settings; a camera mounted on the multi-axis gimbal and arranged to capture images of a rotor blade; an image analysis unit configured to analyze the captured images; and a camera orientation controller configured to compute updated gimbal settings on the basis of the image analysis output.

Provided is a method for monitoring one or more wind turbines in a wind farm, each wind turbine having a rotor with rotor blades which are rotatable around a rotor axis, wherein one or several times during the operation of the wind farm a process is performed that includes i) obtaining a digital image of the respective rotor blade, the image being a current image taken by a camera looking at the respective rotor blade; ii) determining one or more operation characteristics of the respective rotor blade by processing the image by a trained data driven model, where the image is fed as a digital input to the trained data driven model and the trained data driven model provides the one or more operation characteristics of the respective rotor blade as a digital output.

An inspection system for a wind power generator includes a drone that transmits image information obtained by capturing images of a wind power generator and the surroundings of the wind power generator, and sensor detection information for detecting the wind power generator and the surroundings of the wind power generator; an inspection server that receives, from the drone, the image information and the sensor detection information as a transmission; and a mobile device that receives the image information and the sensor detection information, and controls operation of the drone by transmitting at least one instruction to the drone. On the basis of at least one piece of information from among the image information and the sensor detection information, the inspection server may identify a location of the wind power generator and inspect a current state of the wind power generator.

A remotely controlled, unmanned, rotorcraft, such as a drone, can measure an electrical parameter. The rotorcraft includes an electrically conductive contact element having a rigid substrate perpendicular to the connecting arm. The element is coated, at least on the face thereof opposite said arm, with a coating made of conductive flexible material.

The present invention relates to method for estimating energy production (107) from a wind turbine (101) with plurality of blades (102). The method comprises obtaining one or more infrared images (103) of each blade (102) of the wind turbine (101). Further, identifying one or more cross-sectional regions (302) of each of the blade (102) using the one or more infrared images (103) based on a boundary region (301), wherein the boundary region (301) is indicating a transition from a laminar air flow to a turbulent air flow. Furthermore, determining plurality of polar values indicative of an aerodynamic profile for each of the one or more cross-sectional regions (302) based on one or more panel method based techniques and the boundary region (301). Finally, estimating the energy production (107) for the wind turbine (101) based on one or more blade (102)-element momentum (BEM) based techniques using the plurality of polar values.

A method, an apparatus, an electronic device, and a computer-readable storage medium for detecting a wind turbine blade based on drone aerial photography are provided. The method includes: determining first initial three-dimensional position coordinates and a posture of a wind turbine; determining second initial three-dimensional coordinates of a first expected position with respect to a front shooting position of the wind turbine, based on the first initial three-dimensional position coordinates, the posture, and a preset distance; inputting the second initial three-dimensional coordinates of the first expected position into a flight control system of the drone, and controlling the drone to fly to the second initial three-dimensional coordinates based on a GPS system; and controlling the drone to track at least one first key point of blades of the wind turbine, and determining a three-dimensional movement trajectory of the first key point in a camera coordinate system.