Quali-Drone. Intelligent, autonomous drone inspection of large structures within the energy industry

The project develops a full-scale inspection drone solution tested and demonstrated close to operational environment, including development of software for autonomous drone flight on industrial structures and an advanced AI software that recognize and categorize surface errors and measure parts of the industrial structure with high precision. Digital twin technology enables digitalization of inspection processes and documentation, which is normally performed manually. Inspection of offshore wind turbine foundations with focus on the surface and flanges on transition pieces (TP's) will be the use-case in this project. Bladt Industries, as the first commercial end-user, is ready to use the solution after this project. It will enhance production time on TPs, safety for employees and reduce the cost of inspection by 60%, as a significant contribution to drive down LCoE on offshore wind. The market of inspection of offshore wind turbine foundations will grow more than 25% in the offshore wind industry. Moreover, drone inspection can be applicated to inspection of photovoltaics parks, construction sites, buildings and infrastructure. The project will take the technology from TRL 3 to TRL 6.