Spin Doctor: Drone Cleans Dirty Wind Turbines

Rotor Rooter

Spin Doctor: Drone Cleans Dirty Wind Turbines

Aerones manufactures a number of specialized, oversized drones tailored to meet the challenges posed by wind turbine maintenance, firefighting, search & rescue, recreational sports and more. These are large drones – big enough to lift an average-sized person hundreds of feet into the sky or deliver heavy cargo and equipment to isolated areas. The proven quad-rotor design of these drones is backed by 28 motors and 16 hotplug batteries. This allows the drone to ascend 100m (330ft) into the air in under two minutes.

High Wires Act

Spin Doctor: Drone Cleans Dirty Wind Turbines

The wind turbine cleaning drone is fitted with a lightweight extendable power-washing hose that feeds water and/or a cleaning agent from an on-ground reservoir to the spray nozzle. Paired with this hose is an insulated electric power cord. While it may appear rather “primitive” compared to radio-controlled wireless drones, the tethered cords negate any possibility of remote hacking while offering unlimited amounts of water and power: no breaks for refills or recharging!

Safety First

Spin Doctor: Drone Cleans Dirty Wind Turbines

“While working on the drone we have thought a lot about safety,” explains Jānis Putrāms (above), CEO of Aerones (above). “There is actually no single point of failure which means if any part of the drone should fail we could still land it safely.”