Vestas Wind Systems A/s

Rasmus Sole Nørgaard

Ivar J B K Jensen

Claus Engholm Nielsen

Christian Skov

A repair device and method for repairing damage around the leading edge of a wind turbine blade () are provided. The repair device includes a robotic maintenance device () and an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) () that can move the maintenance device () between a storage position and an operation position, the former being mounted on a blade () of the wind turbine (). The UAV () hovers and remains connected to the maintenance device () during operations at the blade () to minimize a total operational downtime needed to conduct the repair actions. The UAV () is secured to the maintenance device () by at least one support line () that carries the weight load of the maintenance device () and at least two control lines () that prevent undesired rotations of the maintenance device (), thereby improving precision and accuracy of UAV-driven movements of the maintenance device (). A transport container () may also be provided to define the storage position, the transport container () including an elongated slot () for guiding movement of the lines () and the maintenance device () during movements into and out of a storage space within the container ().

Growing community of inventors

Skanderborg, Denmark

Rasmus Sole Nørgaard