Renewable energy consultancy Natural Power has acquired US outfit Ascent Technologies, which develops software for unmanned aerial systems or drones.
Natural Power said the technology will enable it to automate drone flights, thus increasing speed, consistency and quality of the data gathered during wind turbine blade inspections.
The software means that the drone system calculates and manages the optimal flight along the surfaces of the blades without pilot intervention, as well as constantly monitoring, adjusting and optimising camera angles, exposure, focal distance and timing of the image acquisition, it said.
“The cost to undertake the inspections are lowered and the images obtained during the process are of consistently high quality,” Natural Power said.
Natural Power global head of inspections Craig Gordon said: “Our blade inspections business continues to gather pace and we have invested in a number of drones that will complement our existing blade inspection services.
“The acquisition of Ascent will enable us to deliver a step change in the wider inspections service that we offer to clients, and coupled with our expert analysis, ensures we deliver a consistently high quality service.”
A video Natural Power’s drone team in action can be found here.