Unmanned aerial vehicle wind turbine inspection systems and methods
Methods, systems and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) wind turbine inspection system. One of the methods includes obtaining first sensor information by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the first sensor information describing physical aspects of a wind turbine, including one or more blades of the wind turbine. An orientation of the blades of the wind turbine are determined based on the obtained first sensor information. A flight pattern for the UAV to inspect the blades of the wind turbine is determined, the flight pattern being based on the determined orientation of the blades. Each of the blades of the wind turbine is inspected by the UAV according to the determined flight pattern, the inspection including obtaining second sensor information describing the blades of the wind turbine.
1. A system, comprising:
an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) including one or more processors and one or more computer readable storage media storing instructions; and
a user device in communication with the UAV and configured to:
present an interactive user interface identifying a plurality of types of wind turbines;
receive a selection of a type of wind turbine of the plurality of types of wind turbine; and
enable input including one or more values identifying geometry information associated with a wind turbine of the selected type of wind turbine and a stand-off distance for the wind turbine,
wherein the one or more processors of the UAV are configured to execute the instructions to:
obtain the one or more values;
obtain first sensor information describing physical aspects of the wind turbine, including one or more blades of the wind turbine;
determine an orientation of the blades of the wind turbine based on the obtained first sensor information and the geometry information associated with the wind turbine;
determine a flight pattern for the UAV to inspect the blades of the wind turbine based on the determined orientation of the blades and the stand-off distance; and
inspect each of the blades of the wind turbine according to the determined flight pattern including obtaining second sensor information periodically while navigating the UAV along a first blade of the blades from one or more angles relative to a leading edge of the first blade and obtaining third sensor information periodically while navigating the UAV along a second blade of the blades from one or more angles relative to a leading edge of the second blade.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein, to determine an orientation of the blades, the one or more processors are configured to execute the instructions to:
activate a distance sensor that measures distance from the UAV to the wind turbine, and storing measurements obtained from the distance sensor;
generate, from the stored measurements, a point cloud, the point cloud representing the wind turbine; and
determine the orientation of the blades from the generated point cloud.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein, to determine an orientation of the blades, the one or more processors are configured to execute the instructions to:
activate a camera coupled to the UAV, and obtaining at least one image of the wind turbine, including the one or more blades;
determine a pose of the camera for each obtained image based on the physical aspects of the wind turbine, the pose indicating at least a position and an orientation of the camera; and
determine the orientation of the blades based on the determined poses and images of the wind turbine.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein, to determine an orientation of the blades, the one or more processors are configured to execute the instructions to:
obtain a plurality of images of a rotor hub of the wind turbine and a portion of at least one blade that connects to the rotor hub;
generate a point cloud based on the obtained images; and
determine the orientation of the blades from the generated point cloud.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein, to inspect each of the blades, the one or more processors are configured to execute the instructions to:
navigate the UAV along the first blade for a fixed distance from a first blade proximal end to a first blade distal end, the fixed distance being a value indicating a length of the first blade.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein, to determine an orientation of blades, the one or more processors are configured to execute instructions to:
determine an orientation of blades connected to the wind turbine, the orientation specifying an angle of each blade with respect to a reference associated with the wind turbine.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute the instructions to:
determine a pitch angle of a blade of the wind turbine based on the obtained first sensor information.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute the instructions to:
determine a linear orientation in a 3 -D coordinate system of a blade of the wind turbine based on the obtained first sensor information.
9. The system of claim 8 , wherein, to determine a linear orientation of a blade, the one or more processors are configured to execute the instructions to:
determine a first plurality of geo-spatial locations of points on the blade;
determine a second plurality of geo-spatial locations of points on the blade; and
compute the linear orientation by calculating a line through an average of the positions of the first plurality and of the second plurality of the geo-spatial locations.
10. A method, comprising:
presenting, at a user device in communication with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), an interactive user interface identifying a plurality of types of wind turbines;
receiving, within the interactive user interface, a selection of a type of wind turbine of the plurality of types of wind turbines;
enabling, at the interactive user interface, input including one or more values identifying geometry information associated with a wind turbine of the selected type of wind turbine and a stand-off distance for the wind turbine;
obtaining, by the UAV, the one or more values from the user device;
obtaining, by the UAV, first sensor information describing physical aspects of the wind turbine, including one or more blades of the wind turbine;
determining an orientation of the blades of the wind turbine based on the obtained first sensor information and the geometry information associated with the wind turbine;
determining a flight pattern for the UAV to inspect the blades of the wind turbine based on the determined orientation of the blades and the stand-off distance for the wind turbine; and
inspecting each of the blades of the wind turbine according to the determined flight pattern including obtaining second sensor information periodically while navigating the UAV along a first blade of the blades from one or more angles relative to a leading edge of the first blade and obtaining third sensor information periodically while navigating the UAV along a second blade of the blades from one or more angles relative to a leading edge of the second blade.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein determining an orientation of the blades comprises:
activating a distance sensor that measures distance from the UAV to the wind turbine, and storing measurements obtained from the distance sensor;
generating, from the stored measurements, a point cloud, the point cloud representing the wind turbine; and
determining the orientation of the blades from the generated point cloud.
12. The method of claim 10 , wherein determining an orientation of the blades comprises:
activating a camera coupled to the UAV, and obtaining at least one image of the wind turbine, including the one or more blades;
determining a pose of the camera for each obtained image based on the physical aspects of the wind turbine, the pose indicating at least a position and an orientation of the camera; and
determining the orientation of the blades based on the determined poses and images of the wind turbine.
13. The method of claim 10 , wherein determining an orientation of the blades comprises:
obtaining a plurality of images of a rotor hub of the wind turbine and a portion of at least one blade that connects to the rotor hub;
generating a point cloud based on the obtained images; and
determining the orientation of the blades from the generated point cloud.
14. The method of claim 10 , wherein inspecting each of the blades comprises at least:
navigating the UAV along a first blade for a fixed distance from the first blade proximal end to a first blade distal end, the fixed distance being a value indicating a length of the first blade.
15. The method of claim 10 , wherein determining an orientation of blades comprises:
determining an orientation of blades connected to the wind turbine, the orientation specifying an angle of each blade with respect to a reference associated with the wind turbine.
16. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
determining a pitch angle of a blade of the wind turbine based on the obtained first sensor information.
17. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
determining a linear orientation in a 3-D coordinate system of a blade of the wind turbine based on the obtained first sensor information.
18. The method of claim 17 , wherein determining a linear orientation of a blade further comprises:
determining a first plurality of geo-spatial locations of points on the blade;
determining a second plurality of geo-spatial locations of points on the blade; and
computing the linear orientation by calculating a line through an average of the positions of the first plurality and of the second plurality of the geo-spatial locations.
19. Non-transitory computer storage media storing instructions operable to cause one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
obtaining, by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), one or more values from a user device in communication with the UAV, the one or more values identifying geometry information associated with a wind turbine and a stand-off distance for the wind turbine, wherein the wind turbine is of a type of wind turbine selected within an interactive user interface identifying a plurality of types of wind turbines and presented at the user device;
obtaining, by the UAV, first sensor information describing physical aspects of the wind turbine, including one or more blades of the wind turbine;
determining an orientation of the blades of the wind turbine based on the obtained first sensor information and the geometry information associated with the wind turbine;
determining a flight pattern for the UAV to inspect the blades of the wind turbine based on the determined orientation of the blades and the stand-off distance for the wind turbine; and
inspecting by the UAV, each of the blades of the wind turbine according to the determined flight pattern including obtaining second sensor information periodically while navigating the UAV along a first blade of the blades from one or more angles relative to a leading edge of the first blade and obtaining third sensor information periodically while navigating the UAV along a second blade of the blades from one or more angles relative to a leading edge of the second blade.
20. The computer storage media of claim 19 , wherein the operation of determining an orientation of the blades comprises:
activating a distance sensor that measures distance from the UAV to the wind turbine, and storing measurements obtained from the distance sensor;
generating, from the stored measurements, a point cloud, the point cloud representing the wind turbine; and
determining the orientation of the blades from the generated point cloud.
21. The computer storage media of claim 19 , wherein the operation of determining an orientation of the blades comprises:
activating a camera coupled to the UAV, and obtaining at least one image of the wind turbine, including the one or more blades;
determining a pose of the camera for each obtained image based on the physical aspects of the wind turbine, the pose indicating at least a position and an orientation of the camera; and
determining the orientation of the blades based on the determined poses and images of the wind turbine.
22. The computer storage media of claim 19 , wherein the operation of determining an orientation of the blades comprises:
obtaining a plurality of images of a rotor hub of the wind turbine and a portion of at least one blade that connects to the rotor hub;
generating a point cloud based on the obtained images; and
determining the orientation of the blades from the generated point cloud.
23. The computer storage media of claim 19 , wherein the operation of inspecting each of the blades comprises at least:
navigating the UAV along a first blade for a fixed distance from the first blade proximal end to a first blade distal end, the fixed distance being a value indicating a length of the first blade.
24. The computer storage media of claim 19 , wherein the operation of determining an orientation of blades comprises:
determining an orientation of blades connected to the wind turbine, the orientation specifying an angle of each blade with respect to a reference associated with the wind turbine.
25. The computer storage media of claim 19 , further comprising the operations of:
determining a pitch angle of a blade of the wind turbine based on the obtained first sensor information.
26. The computer storage media of claim 19 , further comprising the operation of:
determining a linear orientation in a 3-D coordinate system of a blade of the wind turbine based on the obtained first sensor information.
27. The computer storage media of claim 26 , wherein the operation of determining a linear orientation of a blade, further comprises the operations of:
determining a first plurality of geo-spatial locations of points on the blade;
determining a second plurality of geo-spatial locations of points on the blade; and
computing the linear orientation by calculating a line through an average of the positions of the first plurality and of the second plurality of the geo-spatial locations.