The Boeing Company
Apparatus and methods for maintenance of wind turbine blades

Abstract:

Apparatus and methods for the automated non-destructive inspection of wind turbine blades. In one embodiment, the automated apparatus includes: a cart comprising a cart frame, a multiplicity of wheels, and a cart motor for driving rotation of at least one wheel; a multiplicity of cables depending from the cart; a multiplicity of crawler vehicles respectively attached to the multiplicity of cables, each crawler vehicle comprising a crawler vehicle frame and a set of wheels; and a multiplicity of maintenance tools respectively coupled to the crawler vehicle frames of the multiplicity of crawler vehicles. The crawler vehicles are equipped with suction devices to enable adherence to the surface and may be configured for holonomic motion during such adherence.