Robotics developer Comau and helicopter manufacturer Leonardo are testing a rotor blade inspection system that can autonomously test blades up to seven meters (23 feet) long. The system is self-adaptive, according to Comau, meaning that it optimizes the outcome “by enabling the robot to perceive and see its surroundings, automate its decision making, and intuitively optimize the inspection process.”
Testing took place at Leonardo’s rotor blade production facility in Anagni, Italy, although the system may be moved to an MRO site. During the inspection process, the robot conducts tapping tests on the composite blades and does multispectral surface inspections—all autonomously—“to measure and verify the structural integrity with a granularity exceeding thousands of points.”
A key advantage of the autonomous inspection process is that it “ensures 100 percent accuracy within the self-adaptive process” while also improving safety for human operators and eliminating tiring, repetitive, and labor-intensive processes such as tapping tests. This also benefits Leonardo because it will rely less on the typical nonstandard way that technicians pass along experience to each other.
Both Comau and Leonardo are sharing their competencies to optimize the end-to-end inspection process, according to Comau. This includes developing “intelligent algorithms and advanced path planning that allow the robot to see and respond to its surroundings, as well as a comprehensive data acquisition and processing infrastructure that facilitates optimized sound and image recognition.”
The mechanical stimulation of the blades during the tapping test by the robot is recorded and photographed “to detect hidden and superficial defects.”
“The collaboration with Leonardo gives us the opportunity to extend our innovation reach by developing a smarter, data-driven inspection system that provides an objective assessment of key structural elements within a standardized, automated, and highly accurate process,” said Nicole Clement, chief of Comau’s Advanced Automation Solutions unit.