阅读说明：本技术 用于快速大面积扫描的悬索式无损检测单元 (Suspension cable type nondestructive testing unit for rapid large-area scanning ) 是由 G·E·乔治森 J·L·哈芬里西特 K·E·尼尔逊 于 2019-06-26 设计创作，主要内容包括：本申请题为“用于快速大面积扫描的悬索式无损检测单元”,其公开了大面积扫描风力涡轮机叶片或其它大型结构(例如飞行器机身和机翼)以用于无损检测(NDI)目的的自动装置(80)。包含NDI传感器的一个或多个真空附着的扫描元件经由缆索而降低,并且经由沿着水平布置的风力涡轮机叶片的前缘被驱动的机动推车或经由围绕附连到竖直布置的风力涡轮机叶片的轨道被驱动的机动滑架而移动。扫描掠过基于由推车/滑架和缆索线轴运动提供的扫描头的水平和竖直顺序运动。如果扫描头不能到达某区域,则可使用附连到推车上的可共形传感器阵列来沿着水平布置的风力涡轮机叶片的前缘收集NDI数据。(The present application entitled "suspended non-destructive inspection unit for fast large area scanning," discloses a robot (80) for large area scanning of wind turbine blades or other large structures (e.g., aircraft fuselages and wings) for non-destructive inspection (NDI) purposes or more vacuum attached scanning elements containing NDI sensors are lowered via cables and moved via a motorized cart driven along the leading edge of horizontally arranged wind turbine blades or via a motorized cart driven around a track attached to vertically arranged wind turbine blades.)

an automatic device (80) for performing a non-destructive inspection of a body (108), comprising:

a wheeled vehicle (18) including a frame (24), a plurality of wheels (26) rotatably coupled to the frame (24), and a drive motor (62) operably coupled for driving rotation of at least wheels (26) of the plurality of wheels (26);

a th spool (52a) rotatably coupled to the frame (24);

an -th spool motor (54a) mounted on the frame (24) and operatively coupled for driving rotation of the -th spool (52 a);

an th chassis (11a) comprising a base (2a) and at least vacuum attachment apparatus (10a) mounted to or incorporated into the base (2a) of the th chassis (11 a);

an th cable (22a1) with its end attached to the th spool (52a) and the other end attached to the base (2a) of the th chassis (11 a);

a second cable (22a2) with its end attached to the spool (52a) and the other end attached to the base (2a) of the th chassis (11 a);

a th sensor array (6a) attached to the base (2a) of the th chassis (11a), and

a computer system (90) configured to control operation of the drive motor (62), the th spool motor (54a), and the th sensor array (6a) to acquire sensor data over a th scan area on a surface (114, 116) of a body (108).

2. The robotic device (80) of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of rolling elements (4a) rotatably coupled to the th chassis (11a), wherein:

the plurality of rolling elements (4a) are configured to all simultaneously contact the surface (114, 116) of the main body (108);

the at least vacuum attachment devices (10a) are configured to create a floating attachment to the surface (114, 116) of the body (108) when the rolling elements (4a) of the th chassis (11a) are in contact with the surface (114, 116) of the body (108), and

when the rolling element (4a) of the th chassis (11a) is in contact with the surface (114, 116) of the body (108), the th sensor array (6a) is directed toward the th scanning area on the surface of the body (108).

3. The robotic device (80) of claim 1, wherein the rolling element (4a) of the th chassis (11a) is not operably coupled to any motor (62, 54a, 54 b).

4. The robotic device (80) of claim 1, wherein the th sensor array (6a) includes a conformable sensor support plate (7a) and a plurality of sensors (8) attached to the conformable sensor support plate (7a), wherein the plurality of sensors (8) are ultrasonic transducers or eddy current sensors.

5. The automated device (80) of claim 1, further comprising:

a second spool (52b) rotatably coupled to the frame (24);

a second chassis (11b) comprising a second base (2b) and at least second vacuum attachment devices (10b) mounted to or incorporated into the second chassis base (2 b);

a third cable (22c) having its end attached to the second spool (52b) and its end attached to the second chassis base (2 b);

a fourth cable (22d) having its end attached to the second spool (52b) and its end attached to the second chassis base (2b), and

a second sensor array (6b) attached to the second chassis base (2 b).

6. The robotic device (80) of claim 1, further comprising a track (42), wherein the wheeled vehicle (18) is coupled to the track (42) and movable along the track (42).

7. The robotic device (80) of claim 1, further comprising a counterweight (15) slidably coupled to the frame (24) for adjusting an orientation of the counterweight (15) so as to at least partially counteract a force exerted on the wheeled vehicle (18) by the weight of the th chassis (11a) and the th sensor array (6 a).

8, A method for performing non-destructive testing of an airfoil body (108), the method comprising:

orienting an airfoil body (108) such that a leading edge of the airfoil body (108) is disposed substantially vertically;

wrapping a flexible track around the airfoil body (108) and attaching the flexible track to the airfoil body (108) such that the flexible track lies in a generally horizontal plane;

coupling the th wheeled vehicle (18) to the flexible track such that the th wheeled vehicle (18) is movable along the flexible track;

suspending a scan head from the wheeled vehicle (18) using a th cable and a second cable (22a1, 22a 2);

attaching the th scanning head to a th non-horizontal surface (114, 116) of the airfoil body (108) such that the th scanning head is free to float across the th non-horizontal surface (114, 116);

unwinding the and second cables (22a1, 22a2) until the scan head is suspended at height;

moving the th wheeled vehicle (18) generally horizontally along the flexible track from a th orientation adjacent a th region of the non-horizontal surface (114, 116) of the airfoil body (108) to a second orientation adjacent a second region of the non-horizontal surface (114, 116) of the airfoil body (108) when the th scanning head is suspended at the th elevation, the second region of the non-horizontal surface (114, 116) being closer to the leading edge of the airfoil body (108) than the th region of the non-horizontal surface (114, 116), and

acquiring sensor data from the non-horizontal surface (114, 116) of the airfoil body (108) using the th scanning head as the th wheeled vehicle (18) moves from the th orientation to the second orientation.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

moving the wheeled vehicle (18) along the flexible track substantially horizontally from the second orientation to a third orientation adjacent a region of a second non-horizontal surface (114, 116) of the airfoil body (108) when the scanning head is suspended at the elevation, and

as the wheeled vehicle (18) moves from the second orientation to the third orientation, sensor data is acquired from a third non-horizontal surface (114, 116) of the airfoil body (108) using the scan head, the third non-horizontal surface (114, 116) intersecting the leading edge.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

moving the wheeled vehicle (18) along the flexible track substantially horizontally from the third orientation to a fourth orientation adjacent a second region of the second non-horizontal surface (114, 116) of the airfoil body (108) when the scanning head is suspended at the elevation, the region of the second non-horizontal surface (114, 116) being closer to the leading edge than the second region of the second non-horizontal surface (114, 116), and

acquiring sensor data from the second non-horizontal surface (114, 116) of the airfoil body (108) using the scan head as the wheeled vehicle (18) moves from the third orientation to the fourth orientation.

Technical Field

The present invention generally relates to an automated sensor system for non-destructive inspection (NDI). In particular, the present disclosure relates to an automated system for enabling NDI scanning of the surface of large structures such as wind turbine blades.

Background

A typical wind turbine has a plurality of blades extending radially outward from a central hub. Wind turbine blades are typically made of laminated fiber reinforced plastic materials and are designed to allow wind energy to be efficiently converted into rotational motion. Blade efficiency is typically dependent on blade shape and surface smoothness. However, during operation, the wind turbine blades may be damaged, which may adversely affect structural integrity. Therefore, it is common practice to visually inspect the exterior of each blade to identify potential structural anomalies.

However, manual blade inspection can be time consuming and difficult operations.

Disclosure of Invention

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to automated devices and methods for large area scanning of wind turbine blades or other large scale structures (e.g., aircraft fuselages and wings) to perform non-destructive inspections or more vacuum attached scanning elements (hereinafter "scan heads") containing NDI sensors are lowered by cables and moved by motorized carts or carriages driven along areas of the structure.

technical features of the system presented herein include (1) cables that lower and raise the scan head using or more motor driven cable spools, (2) a cart that is driven along the leading edge of a horizontally disposed wind turbine blade or a carriage that is driven around a track attached to a vertically disposed wind turbine blade, (3) a sweep based on the sequential horizontal and vertical motion of the scan head and cable spool motion provided by the cart/carriage, (4) a conformable sensor array attached to the cart that collects NDI data along the leading edge of a horizontally disposed wind turbine blade if the scan head is unable to reach the area.

In accordance with various embodiments disclosed herein, the robot includes a wheeled vehicle (a wheeled vehicle) having a plurality of sensors carrying scanning heads suspended thereon by respective pairs of cables, in the case of a generally horizontally extending wind turbine blade, the wheeled vehicle may be in the form of a cart that moves along the leading edge of the wind turbine blade.

The above-mentioned vacuum attachment functionality is provided by or more vacuum attachment devices that enable each scan head to attach to a surface being inspected but still move freely over the surface.

Although various embodiments of an apparatus and method for large area scanning of wind turbine blades or other large scale structures (e.g., aircraft fuselages and wings) for non-destructive inspection are described in detail below, or more of these embodiments may be characterized by or more aspects below.

aspects of the subject matter disclosed in detail below are automated apparatus for performing non-destructive inspection of a body including a wheeled vehicle including a frame, a plurality of wheels rotatably coupled to the frame, and a drive motor operably coupled for driving rotation of at least of the plurality of wheels, a spool rotatably coupled to the frame, a spool motor mounted on the frame and operably coupled for driving rotation of the spool, a chassis including a base and at least vacuum attachment devices mounted to or incorporated into the base of the chassis, a cable having a end attached to the spool and another end attached to the base of the chassis, a second cable having a end attached to the spool and another end attached to the base of the chassis, a sensor array attached to the base of the floor, and a computer system configured to control operation of the drive motor spool, the motor, and the sensor array to acquire sensor data over a scan area on a surface of the body.

According to another embodiments, the robotic device further includes a track, in which case the wheeled vehicle is coupled to and movable along the track.

Optical imaging, infrared thermal imaging, laser displaced speckle interferometry (laser tomography), and digital radiography are common inspection methods that can be applied using the apparatus disclosed herein.

Another aspect of the subject matter disclosed in detail below is an automated apparatus for performing non-destructive testing of a body comprising a wheeled carrier including a frame, a plurality of wheels rotatably coupled to the frame, and a drive motor operably coupled for driving rotation of at least 0 wheels of the plurality of wheels, a third and second spools rotatably coupled to the frame, a third and second pivot arms rotatably coupled to the frame for rotation about a third axis of rotation , a third and second receiver collet (collet) formed with respective distal fixed couplings or bodies of the third and second pivot arms, a chassis including a base and at least vacuum attachment devices mounted to or incorporated into the base of the chassis, a third and second rocker arm supports rotatably coupled to the base of the chassis for rotation about a second axis of rotation parallel to the third axis of rotation 359 axis and configured to slidably fit within the third and second receiver collets, a third 360, a third rocker arm support rotatably coupled to the base of the chassis, a third rocker support, a third 4684 and a third rocker support rotatably attached to the second rocker arm support and a third base 4624 and a third rocker support connected to the second rocker arm support and a cable support 4684, a third base 4624, a third rocker support and a third rocker 4624, and a third rocker 465, and a third rocker arm support connected to the chassis base of the chassis, a third rocker arm support.

Another aspect of the subject matter disclosed in detail below is a method for performing non-destructive inspection of an airfoil body, comprising (a) orienting the airfoil body such that a leading edge of the airfoil body is disposed substantially vertically, (b) wrapping a flexible track around and attaching the flexible track to the airfoil body such that the flexible track lies in a substantially horizontal plane, (c) coupling a th wheeled vehicle to the flexible track such that a th wheeled vehicle is movable along the flexible track, (d) suspending a second wheeled vehicle from a th 3 wheeled vehicle using a third and a fourth cable, a scanning head from the th wheeled vehicle, (e) attaching an th scanning head to a th non-horizontal surface of the airfoil body such that an th scanning head is free to traverse (across) an th non-horizontal surface, (f) unwinding the third and second cables until the scanning head is suspended at a th height, (g) while the th scanning head is suspended at a 362 th height, causing the second scanning head to float until the 869 th scanning head is suspended from the second scanning head to be suspended from the adjacent area of the airfoil body, and moving the second scanning head from the to the from the adjacent area of the adjacent using the second wheeled vehicle.

According to of suggested embodiments, the method described in paragraph further includes (i) moving 2 th wheeled vehicle along the flexible track substantially horizontally from the second orientation to a third orientation adjacent a 3 th region of the second non-horizontal surface of the airfoil body while the 0 th scanning head is suspended at the 1 th elevation, (j) acquiring sensor data from the third non-horizontal surface of the airfoil body intersecting the leading edge using the th scanning head as the th wheeled vehicle is moved from the second orientation to the third orientation, (k) moving th wheeled vehicle along the flexible track substantially horizontally from the third orientation to a fourth orientation adjacent the second region of the second non-horizontal surface of the airfoil body while the th scanning head is suspended at the th elevation, the th region of the second non-horizontal surface being closer to the leading edge than the second region of the second non-horizontal surface, and (l) acquiring 36data from the second orientation of the non-horizontal surface using the second non-horizontal surface th scanning head as the wheeled vehicle is moved from the third orientation to the fourth orientation.

According to another suggested embodiments, the method further includes (i) coupling a second wheeled vehicle to the flexible track such that the second wheeled vehicle is movable along the flexible track, (j) suspending a second scanning head from the second wheeled vehicle using third and fourth cables, (k) attaching the second scanning head to the second non-horizontal surface of the airfoil body such that the second scanning head is free to float across the second non-horizontal surface, (l) unwinding the third and fourth cables until the second scanning head is suspended at the second elevation, (m) moving the second wheeled vehicle substantially horizontally along the flexible track from a third orientation adjacent the second non-horizontal region of the airfoil body to a fourth orientation adjacent the second non-horizontal second region of the airfoil body, the second non-horizontal region being closer to a leading edge of the airfoil body than the second non-horizontal second region when the second scanning head is suspended at the second elevation, and (n) acquiring data from the second scanning head and the second scanning head using the second non-horizontal surface as the second wheeled vehicle moves from the third orientation to the fourth non-horizontal surface, wherein the scanning head and the second scanning head concurrently acquire data and the second scanning head data data along the flexible track.

Another aspect of the subject matter disclosed in detail below is a method of for performing non-destructive inspection of a body, including (a) coupling a wheeled vehicle to the body such that the wheeled vehicle is movable in a generally horizontal direction relative to the body, (b) suspending a scan head from the wheeled vehicle using and a second cable, (c) attaching the scan head to a non-horizontal surface on the side of the body such that the scan head floats freely across the non-horizontal surface, (d) unwinding or winding and the second cable to vertically displace the scan head when the scan head is attached to the non-horizontal surface, and (e) acquiring NDI sensor data from the non-horizontal surface of the body using the scan head as the scan head is vertically displaced (e) according to embodiments, step (a) includes placing the wheeled vehicle on a leading edge of a wind turbine blade that is oriented when the leading edge is generally horizontal and a rotational axis of a wheel of the wheeled vehicle is generally transverse to the leading edge.

According to embodiments, a method for performing non-destructive inspection of a body includes wrapping and a second cable to displace a scan head vertically upward to a 2 th orientation on a 1 side of the leading edge near the 0 side of the leading edge of the body while the scan head remains attached to a 3 th non-horizontal surface of the body, rotating a pivoting arm to displace the scan head from a th orientation to a second orientation on another side of the leading edge near the body and on another side of the leading edge while the scan head remains attached to the surface of the leading edge, unwinding and the second cable to displace the scan head vertically downward to a third orientation on another side of the leading edge near the body and on another side of the leading edge while the scan head remains attached to a second non-horizontal surface on the other side of the body, and acquiring NDI sensor data from the th and second non-horizontal surfaces of the body using the scan head as the scan head moves vertically upward and then vertically downward.

Other aspects of an apparatus and method for large area scanning of wind turbine blades or other large structures for non-destructive inspection are disclosed below.

Drawings

The features, functions, and advantages discussed in the previous section may be achieved independently in various embodiments or may be combined in yet other embodiments.

FIG. 1 is an illustration showing a view of a portion of a wind turbine having automated equipment mounted on the wind turbine blade for performing non-destructive testing.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an end view of a wind turbine blade having a robot movably mounted on a generally horizontal leading edge and capable of scanning both sides of the blade using independently operable scanning heads suspended by cables wound on respective cable spools according to embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a front view of the wind turbine blade shown in FIG. 2 with a robot mounted thereon.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a side view of an automated device including an NDI scanner head suspended by cables from a wheeled vehicle designed to roll over the leading edge of a wind turbine blade.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an end view of a wind turbine blade having a robot movably mounted on a generally horizontal leading edge and capable of scanning both sides of the blade using a synchronous scanning head suspended by cables wound on the same cable spool according to another embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a front view of the wind turbine blade shown in FIG. 5 with a robot mounted thereon.

Fig. 7 is a diagram representing a front view of a scan head of the type that may be employed in the embodiments depicted in fig. 2 and 5, respectively.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an end view of a wind turbine blade having a robot movably mounted on a generally horizontal leading edge and capable of scanning both sides of a vertical blade using a single scan head according to another embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a front view of portion of a robot having multiple scanning heads each capable of scanning both sides of a wind turbine blade and the leading edge region between the sides during continuous travel along a scanning path (except for the trailing edge) that almost encircles the profile of the blade.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a cross-sectional view of the robot shown in FIG. 9 and showing scan heads near the leading edge of a wind turbine blade, the cross-sectional view being taken along the plane 10-10 shown in FIG. 9.

11A-11G are illustrations showing respective end views of the robot depicted in FIG. 9 when the scan heads are in seven different orientations during continuous travel along the above-described scan path that almost encircles the profile of the wind turbine blade.

FIG. 12 is a diagram representing an elevation view of portion of a generally vertically oriented wind turbine blade having a plurality of carriages movably mounted on a generally horizontal flexible rail attached to the blade and having a cable suspended scan head configured for scanning both sides of the vertically oriented blade, according to an alternative embodiment.

Fig. 13 is a diagram showing a cross-sectional view of a rail on which the carriage shown in fig. 12 is mounted. The cross-sectional view is taken along the plane 13-13 shown in fig. 12.

Figure 14 is a diagram representing a front view of a scan head of the type that may be used with the embodiment shown in figures 12 and 13.

Fig. 15 is a diagram illustrating a cross-sectional view of a flexible scan head (sensor not shown to avoid clutter) designed to conform to the leading edge of a blade member, according to embodiments.

Fig. 16A is a diagram showing a cross-sectional view of a vacuum attaching apparatus according to embodiments.

FIG. 16B is a diagram illustrating a cross-sectional view of the vacuum attachment apparatus shown in FIG. 16A attached to a non-planar blade surface. The air gap between the vacuum attachment apparatus and the non-planar surface has been exaggerated for illustrative purposes.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of components that identify computer control devices for performing ultrasonic inspection operations on a wind turbine blade according to any of the embodiments shown in FIGS. 2 and 5.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram of components identifying computer control means for performing a non-destructive inspection operation on a wind turbine blade according to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 9 and 10.

Reference will now be made to the drawings wherein like elements in different drawings bear the same reference numerals.

Detailed Description

In addition, it will be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.

A typical wind turbine has a plurality of blades extending radially outwardly from a central hub to which the roots of the blades are attached. The hub is rotatably coupled to a nacelle supported at a height above the ground by a tower. The blades are configured to generate aerodynamic forces that cause the wind turbine to rotate in response to wind impinging on the blade surfaces. The nacelle houses a generator that is operatively coupled to the hub. The generator is configured to generate electrical energy as the hub rotates.

As used herein, the term "wind turbine blade" refers to an airfoil body having a leading edge and a trailing edge connected by upper and lower surfaces extending from a root to a tip of the blade. The cross-sectional profile of the blade may vary in size and shape from root to tip.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a view of portion of a wind turbine 100 in accordance with embodiments, the wind turbine 100 having an automated apparatus 80 mounted on wind turbine blades 108 for performing non-destructive inspections, as partially shown in FIG. 1, the wind turbine 100 includes a tower 102, a nacelle 104 mounted at a top end of the tower 102, a hub 106 rotatably mounted inside the nacelle 104, and a plurality of wind turbine blades 108 extending radially from the hub 106. each wind turbine blade 108 includes a leading edge 110 and a trailing edge 112. the wind turbine blades 108 are caused to rotate by forces exerted by the wind, thereby rotating the hub 106 coupled to a generator (not shown).

During use, cracks or scratches may occur in the wind turbine blade 108. Cracks may propagate if not noticed. Periodic inspections may be performed to detect anomalies (e.g., cracks) in the wind turbine blade 108. The automated apparatus of the present disclosure is designed to perform such non-destructive testing.

In the scenario depicted in fig. 1, the robot 80 is mounted on a wind turbine blade 108 having an angular orientation such that a leading edge 110 of the wind turbine blade 108 extends substantially horizontally. Each wind turbine blade 108 of wind turbine 100 may be subjected to nondestructive testing in turn by rotating the respective wind turbine blade to the angular orientation shown in FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, the robot 80 according to embodiments includes a wheeled vehicle in the form of a cart 18, the cart 18 being seated on and traversable along a leading edge 110 of a wind turbine blade 108. the robot 80 shown in FIG. 1 is equipped with at least scanning heads 20 suspended from pairs of cables 22a and 22b, the scanning heads 20 having sensors (not shown in FIG. 1) for non-destructive inspection of the surface of the wind turbine blade 108. in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the scanning heads 20 have a length that is greater than a width, and the length of the scanning heads 20 is generally parallel to the leading edge 110 when the wind turbine blade 108 is oriented generally horizontally.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an end (i.e., chordwise) view of a wind turbine blade 108 on which the robotic device 80 is placed in the manner shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a front view of a wind turbine blade 108 having the robot 80 shown in FIG. 2 mounted thereon. As shown in FIG. 2, the wind turbine blade 108 includes two sides 114 and 116 that intersect at the trailing edge 112 and are connected by the leading edge 110.

The robotic device 80 shown in FIG. 2 includes a wheeled vehicle in the form of a cart 18 that sits on and selectively travels along a leading edge 110 of a wind turbine blade 108. the cart 18 is equipped with pairs of cable spools 52a and 52 b. the robotic device 80 further includes a th scanning head 20a disposed on a side surface 114 and a second scanning head 20b disposed on a side surface 116. according to the particular embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the robotic device 80 further includes a th cable pair 22a and 22b, each cable 22a and 22b having ends attached to the cable spool 52a, a th scanning head 20a operatively coupled to the cable spool 52a by a th cable pair 22a and 22b, a second cable pair 22c and 22d, each cable having ends attached to the spool cable 52b, and a second scanning head 20b operatively coupled to the cable spool 52b by a second cable pair 22c and 22 d.

Still referring to fig. 2 and 3, the cart 18 includes a frame 24, a plurality of wheels 26 rotatably coupled to the frame 24, and a cart drive motor 62 (see fig. 15) for driving rotation of at least of the plurality of wheels 26, the rotational axis of the wheels 26 may be transverse to the leading edge 110 to facilitate the cart traveling along the leading edge 110 the wheels 26 of the cart 18 may be made of a material (e.g., rubber) having a high friction force such that the wheels 26 do not lean off to slide off the surface of the leading edge 110.

Referring now to fig. 2, each cable spool 52a and 52b is rotatably coupled to the frame 24 of the cart 18. in addition, a respective spool motor (not shown in fig. 2, but see spool motor 54 in fig. 15) is mounted on the frame 18 and is operatively coupled for driving rotation of the cable spools 52a and 52 b. the incorporation of the two spool motors 54 allows the cable spools 52a and 52b to rotate independently hi alternative embodiments (e.g., in embodiments where the two scan heads 20a and 20b are positioned on opposite sides in a pitch-catch relationship for inspection through the interior of the wind turbine blades 108), can be configured such that spool motors 54 simultaneously drive rotation of the two cable spools 52a and 52b, producing matched synchronous motions (two serial upward movements or two serial downward movements) of scan heads operating in a pitch mode and another scan heads operating in a receiving mode.

The scanhead 20a carries a sensor array 6a, which sensor array 6a is designed to be attached to and acquire NDI sensor data from a side surface 114 of the wind turbine blade 108 in a floating manner. The scanhead 20b carries a sensor array 6b, which sensor array 6b is designed to be attached to a side surface 116 of the wind turbine blade 108 in a floating manner and to acquire NDI sensor data from the side surface.

Referring to FIG. 3, by rotation of the cable spool 52a, the scan head 20a, which is vacuum attached to the side surface 114 of the wind turbine blade 108, can be raised or lowered. Similarly, by rotation of the cable spool 52b, the scanning head 20b (shown in phantom in FIG. 3) vacuum attached to a side surface 116 (not visible in FIG. 3, but see FIG. 2) of the wind turbine blade 108 can be raised or lowered. As the scanning heads 20a and 20b move up and down, the sensor arrays 6a and 6b may be activated to acquire NDI sensor data from the corresponding region being scanned.

For example, according to possible scanning modes, first, when the cart 18 is stationary, the scanner head 20a is displaced vertically downward while the sensor array 6a acquires NDI inspection data during downward movement, and the controller will stop rotation of the cable spool 52a in response to a signal from the proximity sensor indicating that the trailing edge 112 has been reached, the cart 18 is displaced horizontally along the leading edge 110 by a distance approximately equal to the width of the sensor array 6a, then the cart 18 is stopped from moving horizontally when the scanner head 20a exceeds the trailing edge 112 of the wind turbine blade 108, the scanner head 20a is moved upward while the scanner head 20a remains at the height at which it was displaced downward, the scanner head 20a is moved upward while the scanner head 20a is moved upward along the leading edge 110, the scanner head 20a is moved upward to a distance approximately equal to the width of the sensor array 6a, and the scanner head 20a is moved upward to the leading edge 108, the scanner head 20a is moved upward in response to a signal indicating that the scanner head 20a is moved upward movement, the scanner head 20a is moved upward while the scanner head 20a is moved upward, the scanner head 20a is moved to a vertical direction, the scanner head 20a distance approximately equal to the distance that the leading edge 112 of the blade 108 a is stopped, and the scanner head 20a is moved upward, the scanner head 20a blade 108 is moved upward, the scanner head 20a is moved upward, the scanner head is moved upward direction, the scanner head is moved upward, the distance is moved upward direction, the distance is moved upward direction of the scanner head 20a blade 108.

More specifically, in the embodiment depicted in fig. 2 and 3, the sensor arrays 6a and 6B carried by the scanning heads 20a and 20B each include a plurality of sensors (e.g., ultrasonic transducers or eddy current sensors) arranged in an array and attached to a conformable substrate referred to as a "conformable sensor support plate" (not shown in fig. 2 and 3, but see conformable sensor support plates 7A and 7B in fig. 7A and 7B) to provide a wide scan, during each vertical scan, the sensor arrays 6a and 6B each acquire NDI sensor data (e.g., ultrasonic or eddy current scan data) of a respective width, after each vertical scan, the scanning heads 20a and 20B are moved to a lower longitudinal orientations by activating the cart drive motor 62 to shift the cart 18 along the leading edge 110 of the wind turbine blade 108 by a distance approximately equal to the width of the scan width (e.g., the length of the sensor array), the scanner head 20a and 20B may be acquired from consecutive adjacent vertical segments of the wind turbine blade 108 to provide a full coverage of NDI sensor data of the blade 108, which may be acquired from a full coverage of the wind turbine blade 108 subset , a full coverage of the wind turbine blade data may be created in a column coverage of the multiple vertical scan sensor data of the array .

In the case where the robot relies on separate scanhead clusters disposed on opposite sides of the wind turbine blade 108, which cannot scan the leading edge 110 due to the presence of the cart 18, these scanhead clusters may be used to acquire NDI sensor data from the opposite sides of the wind turbine blade 108 rather than in the region of the leading edge 110. in this case, an additional leading edge scanhead 40 (described in more detail below with reference to FIG. 15) may be mounted on the end of the cart frame 24, the leading edge scanhead 40 being configured to acquire NDI sensor data from the blade surface as the cart travels along the leading edge 110.

Although FIGS. 2 and 3 only show a single scan head hanging on each side of the wind turbine blade 108, the robot 80 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 may be equipped with a th plurality of suspended-suspended scan heads on the side of the wind turbine blade 108 and a second plurality of suspended scan heads on the other side of the wind turbine blade 108. more specifically, a subset of scan heads may be hung at an orientation where nondestructive testing may be performed on the side surface 114 of the wind turbine blade 108. Another subset scan heads may be hung at an orientation where nondestructive testing may be performed on the side surface 116 of the wind turbine blade 108.

According to suggested embodiments, a plurality of scanning heads 20 are suspended on both sides of the wind turbine blade 108. in this case, the scanning heads on the side of the wind turbine blade 108 may be spaced apart by a distance approximately equal to the width of the sensor array according to possible scanning modes, when the cart 18 is stationary at the spanwise position, all scanning heads on the side of the wind turbine blade are displaced vertically downward along mutually parallel paths.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a side view of a robot 80, the robot 80 including a scanning head 20 from which the scanning head 20 is suspended by two cables 22a and 22b from a cart 18. the uppermost portion of each of the cables 22a and 22b is wound on a cable spool 52 a. opposite ends of the cable spool 52a are rotatably coupled to opposite sides of a spool support 68, respectively. the spool support 68 is secured to or formed with the cart frame 24 (e.g., by fastening or welding). in another embodiments, each of the cables 22a and 22b may be attached to a separate cable spool supported by a respective spool support. the distal ends of the cables 22a and 22b are attached to a side of the scanning head 20 at respective attachment points (e.g., hooks). accordingly, the orientation of the scanning head 20 may be controlled by adjusting the respective lengths of the paid-out portions of the cables 22a and 22 b. according to the inspection procedure disclosed herein, the scanning head 20 may be selectively shifted up or down depending on the direction of the cables 22a spool 52a, which causes the cables 22a to be shifted up or down when the cables 22a reel 52a rotate in the opposite direction, which causes the cables 22a reel 22a cable spool 52a to rotate in the direction.

As previously mentioned, the scanning head 20 shown in FIG. 4 includes a sensor array (not visible in FIG. 4, but see sensor arrays 6a and 6b in FIG. 1). Typically, the sensor array is electrically powered and electronically controlled. Fig. 4 depicts the scan head 20 receiving power via a power/signal line 60 extending from the cart 18 to the scan head 20. The power/signal lines 60 also provide control signals from a controller (e.g., a computer system) that controls the operation of the sensor array carried by the scanhead 20. The power/signal lines 60 may also provide a path for sending NDI sensor data acquired by the sensor array to a transceiver on the cart 18 that relays the NDI sensor data to a ground station (e.g., the control computer 90 in fig. 17).

The power/signal line 60 is shown separate from the cable 22 in FIG. 4, the portion of the power/signal line 60 is wound on the cable spool 52a, while the distal end of the power/signal line 60 is attached to the scan head 20. thus, during rotation of the cable spool 52a, the cables 22a and 22b and the power/signal line 60 will wind or unwind so that equal length of line and cable will be stowed or paid out simultaneously.

According to an alternative embodiment, the scanning head 20 may communicate wirelessly with a ground-based control station while receiving power from a battery mounted on the cart 18. This would avoid the use of multiple power/signal lines from multiple scan heads to the ground-based control station via cart 18. The wireless communication will include: (a) sending control signals from a transceiver at the ground-based control station to transceivers on the cart 18 and the scan heads 20a and 20b, which are then forwarded to a motor controller on the cart 18 and to the sensor arrays 6a and 6b on the scan heads 20a and 20 b; and (b) transmitting data acquired by the sensor arrays 6a and 6b on the scanheads 20a and 20b from the transceivers on the scanheads 20a and 20b to the transceiver at the ground-based control station.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an end (i.e., chordwise) view of a wind turbine blade 108 having a robot 80 for non-destructive inspection according to an alternative embodiment, the wind turbine blade 108.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a front view of a wind turbine blade 108 with a robot 80 mounted thereon as shown in FIG. 5. the main difference between the embodiments depicted in FIGS. 2 and 5, respectively, is that the cart 18 shown in FIG. 5 has only cable spools 52, while the cart 18 shown in FIG. 2 has two cable spools 52a and 52 b. with respect to the embodiments shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the scanning heads 20a and 20b are suspended on cables 22a and 22b, respectively, attached to the cable spools 52. according to the proposed embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the cables 22a, 22b are wound on the cable spools 52 in the same direction, at which time the scanning heads 20a, 20b will move up when the cable spools 52 are rotated in directions, and the scanning heads 20a, 20b will move down when the cable spools 52 are rotated in opposite directions.

Fig. 7A and 7B are diagrams representing front views of respective scanning heads 20a and 20B that may be used in the embodiments shown in fig. 2 and 5 the scanning head 20a shown in fig. 7A includes a chassis 11a carrying a sensor array 6a the chassis 11a includes a base 2a, a plurality of vacuum attachment devices 10a mounted on the base 2a or incorporated into the base 2a, and a plurality of rolling elements 4a rollably coupled to the base 2a the scanning head 20a shown in fig. 7A is suspended by from cables 22a and 22B, as previously described, with ends of the cables 22a and 22B attached to a cable spool 52 (not shown in fig. 7, but see fig. 5), and the other end attached to the base 2a of the chassis 11a by means of respective hooks 16a and 16B.

Similarly, the scanning head 20B shown in FIG. 7B includes a chassis 11B carrying the sensor array 6B. the chassis 11B includes a base 2B, a plurality of vacuum attachment devices 10B mounted to the base 2B or incorporated into the base 2B, and a plurality of rolling elements 4B rollably coupled to the base 2B. the scanning head 20B shown in FIG. 7B is suspended by pairs of cables 22c and 22d, as previously described, with the ends of the cables 22c and 22d attached to the cable spool 52 and the other end attached to the base 2B of the chassis 11B by respective hooks 16c and 16 d.

will now be described further on the scanner head 20a shown in FIG. 7A (the elements of scanner head 20B shown in FIG. 7B having similar functionality). according to proposed embodiments, the rolling element 4a of the scanner head 20a is a wheel rotatably mounted to the base 2a, the axis of rotation of the wheel traversing cables 22a and 22B to facilitate rolling of the scanner head 20a during vertical displacement. according to another proposed embodiments, the rolling element 4a is a ball-and-socket bearing, such as ball-and-socket bearing 78 shown in FIG. 15. with the ball-and-socket bearing employed, the scanner head 20a is capable of omnidirectional movement.

The sensor array 6a of the scanner head 20a shown in fig. 7A includes a conformable sensor support plate 7A and a plurality of sensors 8a attached to the conformable sensor support plate 7A. the conformable sensor support plate 7A is preferably a flexible substrate made, for example, of semi-rigid rubber optionally reinforced with carbon or nylon rods according to embodiments, the sensors 8a are ultrasonic transducers according to another embodiment, the sensors 8a are eddy current sensors as the scanner head 20a is vertically displaced, the sensors 8a may be repeatedly activated to acquire NDI sensor data from the opposing (conforming) surface of the body being inspected.

Although FIG. 7A shows configurations in which the sensor array 6a interfaces with the sides of rows of vacuum attachment devices 10a (flanked), and in which four rolling elements 4a are disposed at the four corners of the generally rectangular base 2a, the rolling elements 4a and vacuum attachment devices 10a may be arranged in other configurations, for example, the orientation of the rolling elements 4a and closest vacuum attachment devices 10a in each corner may be reversed such that the order of the elements interfacing with the sides of the sensor array 6 is 10a-4a-10a-4a-10a rather than 4a-10a-10 a-4 a.

If the sensor 8a is an ultrasonic transducer array, the power/signal line 60 shown in FIG. 4 provides a control signal from a controller (e.g., a computer system) that controls the activation of the ultrasonic transducers to transmit ultrasonic waves into the surface being interrogated. The scanning head 20a shown in fig. 7A may also be configured to receive water via a hose for acoustically coupling the ultrasound transducer to the surface being interrogated. The power/signal line 60 may also provide a path for transmitting the ultrasound examination data acquired by the ultrasound transducer to a transceiver on the cart 18 that relays the ultrasound examination data to a ground station (e.g., the control computer 90 in fig. 17).

Still referring to FIG. 7A, the vacuum attachment apparatus 10a is configured to provide a "floating" attachment of the chassis 11a to the convex curved profile of the outboard surfaces 114 and 116 of the wind turbine blade 108 according to suggested embodiments, the vacuum attachment apparatus 10a is a floating (i.e., frictionless) suction cup 150 of the type shown in FIGS. 16A and 16B all of the floating suction cups 150 attached to the base 2a of the chassis 11a may have a similar, if not identical, structure.

FIG. 16A is an illustration showing a cross-sectional view of a floating suction cup 150 according to of the proposed embodiments, the floating suction cup 150 includes a cylindrical sleeve housing 152 and a sleeve 154 having a cylindrical portion that can slide axially within the sleeve housing 152 along a central axis 166. the sleeve 154 further includes a bearing portion 156, the bearing portion 156 having an outer spherical bearing surface with a center point located along the central axis 166. the bearing portion 156 can be formed with the aforementioned cylindrical portion of the sleeve 154. the floating suction cup 150 further includes a pivotable seal assembly 158, the seal assembly 158 including a collar (socket ring)160 that retains a seal 162. the collar 160 also has an inner spherical bearing surface that is concentric with and pivotably coupled to the outer spherical bearing surface of the bearing portion 156 of the sleeve 154. the pivot point of the collar 160 is juxtaposed with the center point of the outer spherical bearing surface of the bearing portion 156 of the sleeve 154.

The pivotable seal assembly 158 is configured to rotate relative to the sleeve 154 about a pivot point to at least partially conform to the shape of the opposing surface. The floating suction cup 150 may adhere to such opposing surfaces as air is drawn into a channel 164 formed in part by the channel of the cannula housing 152, in part by the channel of the cannula 154, and in part by the opening in the seal 162. The pivotable seal assembly 158 is configured to rotate relative to the sleeve 154 independent of translational movement of the sleeve 154 in a direction parallel to a central axis 166 within the sleeve housing 152. The amount of rotation of the pivotable seal assembly 158 may be limited by the size and/or shape of the outer spherical bearing surface of the bearing portion 156 of the sleeve 154.

Although not shown in FIG. 16A, the floating suction cup 150 preferably includes a spring arranged to urge the sleeve 154 to extend out of the sleeve housing 152 by sliding downward along the central axis 166 (as shown in FIG. 16A). The sliding movement may be limited to a selected range of movement. However, the sleeve 154 may be free to "float" relative to the sleeve housing 152 over the selected range of motion. Such limiting of translational movement of the sleeve 154 may be achieved by providing a slot 168 in the wall of the cylindrical portion of the sleeve 154 and providing a pin 170 extending radially inward from the wall of the sleeve housing 152 and into the slot 168. Pin 170 may also be used to retain ferrule 154 within ferrule housing 152. The length of the slot 168 limits the sliding movement of the ferrule 154 relative to the ferrule housing 152.

The channel 164 is in fluid communication with a control valve (not shown in FIG. 16A) which in turn is in flow communication with a vacuum pump (also not shown in FIG. 16A) disposed on the cart 18 or on the ground, in either case , a hose connects the vacuum system on the scan head 20 with the vacuum pump, control valve, channel 164 and connecting conduits form a vacuum system configured to draw air into the channel 164 such that a vacuum attachment is formed between the pivotable seal assembly 158 and the opposing surface.

Seal 162 may be formed from any of a variety of different materials, for example, seal 162 may include silicone rubber or other resilient material, a viscoelastic material, or some other suitable flexible material.

FIG. 16B illustrates a cross-sectional view of the floating suction cup 150 illustrated in FIG. 16A attached to the convexly curved outer surface of the wind turbine blade 108. For illustrative purposes, the air gap between the floating suction cup 150 and the outer surface has been exaggerated. The air gap may serve as an air bearing that holds the pivotable seal assembly 158 close to the outer surface of the wind turbine blade 108 while reducing static friction to within a selected tolerance. In other words, the air gap allows the pivotable seal assembly 158 to "float" above the outer surface while maintaining a vacuum attachment between the pivotable seal assembly 158 and the outer surface. Further, the air gap allows the pivotable seal assembly 158 to move over the outer surface of the wind turbine blade 108 with a reduced amount of static friction and without causing undesirable effects to the surface.

In embodiments, the seal 162 can be corrugated to allow small channels of airflow between the seal 162 and the outer surface 84. in examples, these corrugated channels have been shown to promote a vacuum on surfaces with uneven profiles or varying surface roughness.

The vacuum attachment devices 10a and 10b described above enable the scanning heads 20a and 20b to be vacuum attached to the side surfaces 114 and 116, respectively, of the wind turbine blade 108. Non-destructive testing may be performed while the scan heads 20a and 20b are vacuum attached to the side surfaces 114 and 116. During such non-destructive testing, the scan heads 20a and 20b are vertically displaced while the cart 18 is stationary.

a method for performing non-destructive inspection of a subject using the automated apparatus depicted in FIG. 2 or any of FIG. 5, the method is characterized by the steps of (a) coupling a wheeled vehicle (e.g., cart 18) to a subject (e.g., wind turbine blade 108) such that the wheeled vehicle is capable of moving in a generally horizontal direction relative to the subject, (b) suspending a second 1 scanning head 20a from the wheeled vehicle using a second 0 cable 22a and a second cable 22b, (c) attaching a second 2 scanning head 20a to a second non-horizontal surface on the side of the subject such that the th scanning head 20a floats non-freely across the 366 th horizontal surface, (d) unwinding or winding the second 7 cable 22a and the second 22b to vertically displace the th scanning head 20a while the 48 th scanning head 20a is attached to the third non-horizontal surface, and (e) moving the second scanning head 20a about equal to the third 638 th scanning head 20a vertical scanning head 20b with the second vertical scanning head 20b attached thereto as the second a vertical scanning head 20b is moved about equal to the third scanning head 20b, and the third scanning head 20b is capable of being attached to the second vertical scanning head 20b and the second vertical scanning head 20b is capable of being attached to the second vertical scanning head acquiring a non-horizontal surface, and the second scanning head acquiring data acquisition step (c) including the second vertical scanning head 20b) and the second vertical scanning head being capable of acquiring data acquisition step (c) being performed after the second vertical scanning head 2 scanning head 20b and the second vertical scanning head is performed according to the second vertical scanning head including the second vertical scanning head 2, the second vertical scanning head 2 scanning head being suspended from the second vertical scanning head 2, the second vertical scanning head 20b, the second vertical scanning head is capable of acquiring step of acquiring the second vertical scanning head 2, the second vertical scanning head including the second vertical scanning head 2, the second scanning head 20b, the second vertical scanning head including the second vertical scanning head 2, the.

As previously described, an additional leading edge scan head 40 (see FIGS. 2, 3, and 6) may be mounted at the end of the cart frame 24, the leading edge scan head 40 being configured to acquire NDI sensor data from a surface area intersecting the leading edge 110 as the cart travels along the leading edge 110. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a cutaway view of the flexible leading edge scan head 40, the leading edge scan head 40 including a plurality of sensors (sensors not shown to avoid clutter) secured to a conformable vacuum plate 40, the conformable vacuum plate 40 designed to conform to the leading edge 110 of the wind turbine blade 108. the leading edge scan head 40 includes a flexible vacuum plate 120, the flexible vacuum plate 120 being designed to float on a concave curved surface when the flexible vacuum plate 120 is partially evacuated.

FIG. 15 shows the structure of a flexible vacuum panel according to suggested embodiments, the figure being a cross-sectional view taken in a plane orthogonal to the axis of the wind turbine blade 108. the flexible vacuum panel 120 is an assembly comprising a flexible substrate 122 (e.g. made of semi-rigid rubber optionally reinforced with carbon or nylon rods), a flexible vacuum seal 124 (e.g. made of rubber) attached to the flexible substrate 122 along the perimeter, and a plurality of ball-and-socket bearings 78, the socket of the ball-and-socket bearings 78 being embedded in the flexible substrate 122. when in a flattened state, the flexible substrate 122 is rectangular in shape, while the ball-and-socket bearings 78 are arranged in two rows with a sensor array (not shown in FIG. 15) disposed between the two rows. only rows of ball-and-socket bearings 78 are seen in FIG. 15.

The flexible substrate 122 and the opposing surface of the wind turbine blade 108 form a chamber 132, the chamber 132 being sealed along the perimeter by the vacuum seal 124 is designed such that when the ball of the ball-and-socket bearing 78 is in contact with the surface of the wind turbine blade 108, there is a small amount of clearance between the vacuum seal 124 and the opposing surface, which allows air to flow into the chamber 132 when the chamber 132 is partially evacuated.

The flexible substrate 122 may be formed by molding the molded structure shown in FIG. 15 includes a boss (protuberance) having an attachment bushing 126 embedded therein for coupling the flexible vacuum plate 120 to either end of the frame 24 of the cart 18. the flexible substrate 122 also includes an opening having a channel 130 embedded therein. the channel 130 is connected to a vacuum port 128, the vacuum port 128 in turn connected to a vacuum pump (not shown in FIG. 15.) the distal end of the channel 130 is in flow communication with a chamber 132. when the vacuum pump is activated, the resulting partial vacuum formed in the chamber 132 will create a suction force that attaches the flexible vacuum plate 120 to the leading edge 110 of the wind turbine blade 108, but a cushion of air created due to the drawing of air through a small gap between the vacuum seal 124 and the opposing surface in the region of the leading edge 110 that still allows the flexible vacuum plate 120 to float. during evacuation, air inside the chamber 132 flows through the channel 130 and out of the vacuum port 128, which is represented by arrows in FIG. 15.

According to an alternative embodiment, NDI coverage of the surface area intersected by the leading edge 110 of the wind turbine blade 108 may be provided by designing the robot 80 such that each scanning head is capable of encircling the wind turbine blade's profile starting from a position on the side surface 114 adjacent the trailing edge 112 and ending at a position on the side surface 116 adjacent the trailing edge 112, including smoothly across the leading edge 110. During the transport of the vacuum attached scan head 20 vertically up the side surfaces 114, laterally across the leading edge 110, and vertically down the side surfaces 116, the sensor array 6 is repeatedly activated to acquire NDI sensor data, including from the surface areas intersected by the leading edge 110. Thus, a separate leading edge scan head may be omitted.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an end view of a wind turbine blade 108 having a robot 80 movably mounted on a generally horizontal leading edge 110 and capable of scanning both sides of the vertical blade using scan heads 20 including a sensor array 6. first, a vacuum attached scan head 20 is moved vertically upward on a side surface 114 of the wind turbine blade 108 from proximate the trailing edge 112 to proximate the leading edge 110. then, the top scan head 20 is moved laterally across the leading edge 110 and over a predetermined distance. thereafter, the scan head 20 is displaced vertically downward on a side surface 116 of the wind turbine blade 108, moving from proximate the leading edge 110 to proximate the trailing edge 112. when the scan head 20 is at the top of the wind turbine blade 108, the cable spool 52 stops. after the scan head 20 has moved across the leading edge 110 with the aid of a pivoting arm (not shown in FIG. 8, but see pivoting arms 14a and 14b in FIG. 9), the cable spool 52 then begins to rotate in the opposite direction.

As the sensor array 6 approaches the top of its travel, each pair of pivot arms 14a and 14b associated with a respective scan head 20 is activated to rotate in response to receiving a feedback signal from a proximity sensor (not shown in FIG. 8). The pivot arms 14a and 14b may be similar to wiper blades that push the scan head 20 across the leading edge 110 of the wind turbine blade 108, such that as the cable spool 52 rotates to unwind the cables 22a and 22b to lower the vacuum attached scan head 20, the sensor array 6 may travel down and scan the side surfaces 116 of the wind turbine blade 108. once the full width of data is obtained at the longitudinal position of the cart 18, the cart 18 moves the width of the sensor array 6 (or individual sensors) forward, and the process repeats in another fashion.

Optionally, the cart 18 may also include an adjustable ballast (ballast) in the form of a counterweight 15 (shown in fig. 8) that may be slid back and forth across the cart frame 24 when the scan head 20 is positioned on the side of the wind turbine blade 108 to keep the cart 18 from losing balance, the counterweight 15 is moved by a motor-driven, non-back drivable lead screw 59 (see fig. 18) that holds the counterweight 15 in place even in the absence of power, control of the counterweight orientation is provided by a direct operator command or a computer programmed according to an auto-balancing algorithm, the auto-orientation control is based on sensor feedback indicating an unbalanced cart 18, for example, the cart imbalance sensor may take the form of strain gauges measuring the tension in cables 22a and 22b that generate forces tending to cause the cart 18 to tip over, in order to counteract any imbalance, the computer on the cart 18 may adjust the orientation of the counterweight 58 relative to the cart frame 24 to apply forces nearly equal and opposite to the forces to the imbalance forces that are applied by a linear ball bearing that is operably coupled to the cart frame 24 via a ball bearing that is not shown by a linear ball bearing that rotates the carriage encoder 58 that is coupled to the carriage frame (see the linear lead a lead screw 58) to the carriage frame 24 when the carriage 18 is moved back and the carriage frame 24, the weight 15 is coupled to a linear guide that is coupled to the carriage 18 via a linear guide that is not shown by a linear guide that is coupled to the carriage 18 (see a linear guide that is not shown in a linear guide that is coupled to the linear guide that is not shown in the carriage 18) that is coupled to the carriage 18 that is not shown by a linear guide that is not shown in a linear guide track that is not shown by a linear guide that is not shown that is coupled to the carriage 18 (see fig. a linear guide that is not shown that is coupled to track that is a linear guide that is coupled to the carriage 18) that is not shown that is programmed.

According to an alternative embodiment, an even number of scan heads 20 may be suspended from the cart 18, and the computer 72 programmed to control the orientation of the scan heads 20 so that the scan heads 20 are always in equilibrium, e.g., an equal number of scan heads are suspended on opposite sides of the wind turbine blade. In this configuration, the adjustable ballast feature may be omitted from the cart 18.

FIG. 9 is an illustration showing a front view of portion of a robot 80 with multiple scan heads (only two scan heads 20a and 20b are visible in FIG. 9), each of the scan heads 20a and 20b being capable of scanning both sides of the wind turbine blade 108 and the top surface area intersected by the leading edge 110 during continuous travel along a scan path (except for the trailing edge 112) that encircles the profile of the wind turbine blade 108.

As shown in fig. 9, each of the scanning heads 20a and 22b includes a base 2a and a plurality of rolling elements 4 (e.g., wheels shown in fig. 9) rollably coupled to the base 2a, each of the scanning heads 20a and 20b is suspended by a respective pair of cables 22a and 22b, end of the cable 22a is attached to the cable spool 52a and the other end is attached to the base 2a, while the end of the cable 22b is attached to the cable spool 52b and the other end is attached to the base 2a, the cart 18 is equipped with a respective pair of cable spools 52a and 52b for each of the scanning heads 20a and 20b, the cable spools 52a and 52b are coaxial, hi accordance with another embodiment, the rolling elements are ball-and socket bearings.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 9, the cables of each pair of cables 22a and 22b are partially wound around a respective pairs of cable spools 52a and 52b, the cart frame 24 shown in FIG. 9 is further step equipped with a respective 0 pair of pivot spindles 12a and 12b for each scan head, the pivot spindles 12a and 12b are connected to or formed with a respective pair of pivot arms 14a and 14b for each scan head, in addition, a respective pair of receiving collets 30a and 30b are connected to or formed with a respective pair of pivot arms 14a and 14b for each scan head, in addition, each of the scan heads 20a and 20b further includes a respective pair of rocker brackets 28a and 28b, pair of rocker brackets 28a and 28b are rotatably coupled to base 2a of scan head 20a, and the other pair of rocker brackets 28a and 28b are rotatably coupled to base 2b of scan head 20b, and so on the like.

As best seen in fig. 9, the cart frame 24 is configured to be connected at its ends to racks (gantry) , supported at opposite ends by respective wheel sets 26, to a raised central portion overlying the leading edge 110 of the wind turbine blade 108, which provides clearance for the scanning heads 20a and 20b to pass under as the scan moves from the side to the other side of the wind turbine blade 108.

Fig. 10 is a diagram representing the portion of the automated assembly 80 shown in fig. 9, only scan heads 20 are shown in fig. 10, each of the scan heads 20a and 20b shown in fig. 9 may have the structure described in more detail in fig. 10.

FIG. 10 shows scan heads 20 located beneath the portion of the cart frame 24 and near the leading edge 110 of the wind turbine blade 108. the portion of the cable 22 is wound on the cable spool 52. the distal end of the cable 22 is attached to the end of the rocker arm stand 28, as shown in FIG. 10, in the illustrated state the portion of the rocker arm stand 28 has been slidably inserted into the associated receiving collet 30. at least portion of the cable 22 passes through the receiving collet 30.

11A-11G, with the scan head 20 in the orientation shown in FIG. 10, each pivot arm 14 is driven to rotate by a pivot arm motor (not shown in FIG. 10, but see pivot arm motor 56 in FIG. 18) with the rocker arm stand 28 partially inserted and engaged with the receiving collet 30. applies a corresponding force to the rotating pivot arms 14 causing the scan head 20 to roll from the side of the leading edge region to the other side of the leading edge region of the top surface of the wind turbine blade 108. during the passage of the scan head 20 over the top surface of the wind turbine blade 108, the sensor array 6 (not shown in FIG. 10) may be activated to acquire NDI sensor data.

11A-11G are diagrams representing respective end views of the robot 80 depicted in FIGS. 9 and 10, wherein scan heads 20 (vacuum attached to the side surface 114 of the wind turbine blade 108) are in seven different orientations during continuous travel along the above-described scan path that almost encircles the profile of the wind turbine blade 108. during transfer of the vacuum attached scan heads 20 from the side of the trailing edge 112 to the other side of the trailing edge 112, the sensor array 6 is repeatedly activated to acquire additional NDI sensor data (including when the scan heads 20 are in the respective orientations shown in FIGS. 11A-11G).

Fig. 11A depicts the robot 80 at time (operating in a cable-take-up mode) when the rolling element 4 of the scanning head 20 hanging from on the cable 22 is in contact with the side surface 114 on the side of the leading edge 110 of the wind turbine blade 108 and the cable 22 is being wound on the rotating cable spool 52 (the winding rotation of the cable spool 52 is represented by the curved arrow labeled "REEL up"). more specifically, a computer on the cart 18 (not shown in fig. 11A-11G, but see computer 72 in fig. 18) sends commands (see fig. 18) to the various motor controllers 70, which in turn control the spool motors 54 to operate in a coordinated manner to ensure that the vacuum-attached scanning head 20 moves vertically upward over the side surface 114 of the wind turbine blade 108.

Each CABLE 22 has a distal end attached to the associated rocker arm stand 28, and has a portion wound on the associated CABLE spool 52 and a portion passing through the associated receiver collet 30, the winding of another portion of each CABLE 22 displaces the distal portion of the CABLE 22 toward the CABLE spool 52 (the displacement of the distal portion of the CABLE 22 is represented in FIG. 11A by the straight arrow labeled "Cable UPTAKE"). the take-up of the CABLE 22 in turn causes the scan head 20 to move upward toward the leading edge.

FIG. 11B depicts the robot 80 (still operating in a cable take-up mode) at a second time (after time ) when the rolling elements 4 of the scan head 20 are closer to the leading edge 110 than is the case in the state shown in FIG. 11A and the cable 22 is still wound on the rotating cable spool 52. continued take-up of the cable 22 causes the scan head 20 (still vacuum attached to the side surface 114) to move upward and closer to the leading edge 110. during this continued upward movement of the scan head 20, the sensor array 6 is repeatedly activated to acquire additional NDI sensor data.

In the state shown in FIG. 11C, the portion of each rocker arm stand 28 associated with the scan head 20 has entered and engaged with the associated receiving collet 30 FIG. 11C depicts the robot 80 at a third time (after the second time) when a pivot arm activation sensor (not shown) detects that a sufficient length of each rocker arm stand 28 has engaged the associated receiving collet 30. in response to the specific signal output by the pivot arm activation sensor at the third time, the computer 72 exits the cable take-up mode and enters a scan head cross (crossover) mode, in particular, the computer 72 is configured to send commands to the motor controller 70 to cause the spool motor 54 and pivot arm 56 (see FIG. 18) to operate in a coordinated manner to ensure that the scan head 20 moves smoothly over the leading edge 110 of the turbine blade 108 without interference or restriction by the associated cable 22.

In accordance with aspects of the scan head ride mode, the pivot arm motor 56 is controlled to cause rotation of the pivot spindle 12, pivot arm 14 and receiving collet 30 associated with the scan head 20, in accordance with another aspect of the scan head ride mode, the SPOOL motor 54 is controlled to stop rotation of the associated cable SPOOL 52 in the "REEL-up" direction and to begin rotation in the "REEL-out" direction (opposite the "REEL-up" direction) after time intervals, during rotation of the pivot spindle 12 in the scan head ride mode, the receiving collet 30 exerts a force on the rocker bracket 28 that causes the scan head 20 to roll, causing the rear rolling element 4 to move toward the leading edge 110, while the front rolling element 4 moves away from the leading edge 110 and onto the side surface 116 on the other side of the leading edge 110 of the wind turbine blade 108.

FIG. 11D depicts the robot 80 (still operating in a scanhead-over mode) at a fourth time (after the third time), when the scanhead 20 is located on the leading edge 110 of the wind turbine blade 108, the sensor array 6 is repeatedly activated to acquire additional NDI sensor data during movement of the scanhead 20 from the orientation seen in FIG. 11C to the orientation seen in FIG. 11D. in the state shown in FIG. 11D, as the pivot arm 14 continues to rotate, the portion of each rocker arm stand 28 continues to engage the associated receiving collet 30. in the frame of reference of FIG. 11D, the force exerted by the pivot arm 14 pushes the scanhead 20 to the left.

FIG. 11E depicts the robot 80 at a fifth time (after the fourth time) when the rear rolling element 4 of the scanhead 20 is at the leading edge 110 of the wind turbine blade 108, in response to a second specific signal (different from the specific signal) output by the pivot arm activation sensor at the fifth time, the computer 72 exits the scanhead-crossing mode and enters the cable-deployment mode.

Fig. 11F depicts the robot 80 at a sixth time (after the fifth time) while still operating in the cable unwind mode, with the rolling element 4 of the scan head 20 farther from the leading edge 110 than in the condition shown in fig. 11E, and with the cable 22 still unwinding from the cable SPOOL 52, the cable SPOOL 52 now rotates in a "REEL out (REEL DE-SPOOL)" direction opposite the "REEL up" direction. Continued unwinding or payout of the cable 22 causes the scan head 20 (now vacuum attached to the side surface 116) to move downward and closer to the trailing edge 112. More specifically, the computer 72 (see fig. 18) is configured to send commands to the various motor controllers 70, which motor controllers 70 in turn control the spool motors 54 to ensure that the vacuum attached scan heads 20 move vertically downward over the side surfaces 116 of the wind turbine blades 108. During this continued downward movement of the scanhead 20, the sensor array 6 is repeatedly activated to acquire additional NDI sensor data.

Fig. 11G depicts the robot 80 (still operating in the cable-unwinding mode) at a seventh time (after the sixth time) when the rolling element 4 of the scanning head 20 is farther from the leading edge 110 than it would be in the state shown in fig. 11F, and the cable 22 is still unwinding from the rotating cable spool 52. Continued payout of the cable 22 causes the scan head 20 (still vacuum attached to the side surface 116) to move downward and closer to the trailing edge 112. During this continued downward movement of the scanhead 20, the sensor array 6 is repeatedly activated to acquire additional NDI sensor data.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a front view of a portion of a generally vertically oriented wind turbine blade 108 having a robot configured to nondestructively inspect the two side surfaces 114 and 116 and the connecting surface region intersected by the leading edge 110.

FIG. 12 is an illustration showing a front view of portion of a generally vertically oriented wind turbine blade 108 having a plurality of wheeled vehicles in the form of carriages 46a, 46b, and 46c movably coupled to a generally horizontal flexible rail 42. the flexible rail 42 wraps around and conforms to the contour shape of the wind turbine blade 108 and is attached to the surface of the generally vertically oriented wind turbine blade 108. according to the proposed embodiment depicted in FIG. 12, the flexible rail 42 is attached to the surface of the wind turbine blade 108 by a plurality of suction cups 44 attached to the flexible rail 42 at spaced apart locations along the length of the flexible rail 42. As shown in FIG. 12, excess rail is allowed to extend beyond the trailing edge 112 of the wind turbine blade 108.

Still referring to fig. 12, the carriage 46a includes a carriage frame 36a and a drive motor 48a mounted on the carriage frame 36a, the carriage 46b includes a carriage frame 36b and a drive motor 48b mounted on the carriage frame 36b, and the carriage 46c includes a carriage frame 36c and a drive motor 48c mounted on the carriage frame 36 c. The carriages 46a-46c may be identical in construction.

FIG. 13 is an illustration showing a cross-sectional view of the flexible track 42 having the carriages 46a-46c shown in FIG. 12 mounted thereon, the cross-section being taken along the plane 13-13 shown in FIG. 12, as shown in FIG. 13, the carriage 46a includes a carriage frame 36a having two pairs of wheels rotatably coupled to the carriage frame 36a, wherein pairs of wheels roll on the side of the flexible track 42a and another pairs of wheels roll on the side of the flexible track 42 a. in the embodiment shown in FIG. 13, the four wheels include three driven wheels 38 and drive wheels 50. the carriage 46a is further equipped with a drive motor 48a for driving the drive wheels 50 in rotation-the drive motor 48a can be controlled to drive the drive wheels 50 in either the direction (into or out of the plane of the paper on which FIG. 13 is printed) -rotation of the drive wheels 50 in rotational directions causes the carriage 46a to move along the flexible track 42 in directions and rotation of the drive wheels 50 in the opposite rotational direction causes the carriage 46a to move along the flexible track 42 in the opposite direction.

As best seen in FIG. 12, each carriage 46a-46c is also equipped with a corresponding pair of cable spools 52 and a corresponding pair of spool motors 54 that respectively drive rotation of the cable spools 52, the cable spool 52 on carriage 46a has a corresponding portion on which the two cables 22a and 22b are wound, the cable spool 52 on carriage 46b has a corresponding portion on which the two cables 22c and 22d are wound, and the cable spool 52 on carriage 46b has a corresponding portion on which the two cables 22e and 22f are wound, the cables 22a and 22b support the th scanning head 20a, 22c and 22d support the second scanning head 20b, and the cables 22e and 22f support a third scanning head, not shown in FIG. 12. in the embodiment shown in FIG. 12, the length of each scanning head 20a and 20b is greater than width, and when the wind turbine blades 108 are oriented generally vertically, the length of the scanning heads is generally parallel to the leading edge 110.

The flexible track 42 wraps chordwise around the wind turbine blade 108 and conforms to the profile of the wind turbine blade, therefore, the flexible track will have a curvature wrapped around the leading edge 110 of the wind turbine blade to allow the carriage 46a to travel from an orientation adjacent the side surface 114 to an orientation adjacent the side surface 116 As the carriage 46a moves along the flexible track 42, the vacuum attached scanhead 20a may be horizontally displaced and repeatedly activated to acquire breadth (swing) NDI sensor data from the opposing surface of the wind turbine blade 108.

FIG. 14 is a diagram representing a front view of an -type scanning head 20a that may be used in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 12 and 13. the scanning head 20a shown in FIG. 14 includes a chassis 11a carrying a sensor array 6. the chassis 11a includes a base 2, a plurality of vacuum attachment devices 10 mounted to or incorporated in the base 2, and a plurality of rolling elements 4' rollably coupled to the base 2. the scanning head 20a shown in FIG. 14 is suspended by for cables 22a and 22b, the ends of the cables 22a and 22b being attached to respective cable spools 52a and 52b, and the other end being attached to the base 2 of the chassis 11a by respective hooks 16a and 16b, as previously described.

According to the embodiment shown in fig. 14, the rolling elements 4' are ball-and-socket bearings rotatably mounted to the base 2. Such ball and socket bearings enable full range of motion of the scan head 20 a. According to an alternative embodiment, the rolling elements 4' are wheels having an axis of rotation perpendicular to the flexible track 42 to facilitate movement of the scanning head 20 in a direction parallel to the flexible track 42.

The sensor array 6 of the scanhead 20a shown in fig. 14 includes a conformable sensor support plate 7 and a plurality of sensors 8 attached to the conformable sensor support plate 7 according to embodiments, the sensors 8 are ultrasonic transducers according to other embodiments, the sensors 8 are eddy current sensors as the scanhead 20 is vertically displaced, the sensors 8 may be repeatedly activated to acquire NDI sensor data from the opposing surface.

Although FIG. 14 shows configurations with the sensor array 6 flanked by rows (rows) of vacuum attachment devices 10 with four rolling elements 4 'interspersed therebetween, the rolling elements 4' and vacuum attachment devices 10 may be arranged in other configurations, for example, the rolling elements 4 'and vacuum attachment devices 10 may be arranged such that the sequence of elements flanked by the sensor array 6 is 4' -10-4 '-10-4' rather than 10-4 '-10-4' -10.

According to simple embodiments, the robotic device shown in fig. 12 and 13 may use a single carriage 46a and a single scanning head 20a suspended from the single carriage 46 a. in such embodiments, methods for performing non-destructive inspection of an airfoil body (e.g., wind turbine blade 108) may be characterized by (a) orienting the airfoil body such that a leading edge of the airfoil body is disposed substantially vertically, (b) wrapping flexible track 42 around the airfoil body and attaching flexible track 42 to the airfoil body such that flexible track 42 lies in a substantially horizontal plane, (c) coupling a wheeled vehicle (e.g., carriage 46a) to flexible track 42 such that the wheeled vehicle is movable along flexible track 42, (d) suspending scanning head 20a from the wheeled vehicle using a 730 cable 22a and a second cable 22b from the wheeled vehicle, (e) attaching scanning head 20a to a non-horizontal surface of the airfoil body such that scanning head 20a floats freely across 2, (f) unwinding the scanning head 20a from the scanning head 22a and a second scanning head 22a to a scanning head 20b, (e) suspending the scanning head 20a non-horizontal surface from the scanning head 20a scanning head from a scanning head 20b to a scanning head 2, which is suspended from a scanning head 2 to a scanning head 2, which is suspended from a scanning head 2, which is suspended from a scanning head, and from a scanning head is suspended from a scanning head 2, which is suspended from a scanning head 2, which is suspended from a scanning head, which is suspended from a scanning head, when the flexible track 42, to a scanning head is suspended from a scanning head, which is suspended from a scanning head, to a scanning head, and a scanning head is suspended from a scanning head, which is suspended from a scanning head, to a scanning.

According to another embodiment, the robotic device shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 may use the two carriages 46a and 46b and the two scanning heads 20a and 20b suspended from the two carriages 46a and 46b, respectively. in such an embodiment, the method for performing non-destructive inspection of an airfoil body (e.g., a wind turbine blade 108) may be characterized by (a) orienting the airfoil body such that a leading edge of the airfoil body is disposed substantially vertically, (b) wrapping the flexible track 42 around the airfoil body and attaching the flexible track 42 to the airfoil body such that the flexible track 42 lies in a substantially horizontal plane, (c) coupling the wheeled vehicle to the flexible track 42 such that the wheeled vehicle is movable along the flexible track 42, (d) suspending the wheeled vehicle 20a from the 2 wheeled vehicle 20a to the a scanning head 20a using the cables 22b and 367 b, (e) attaching the scanning head 20a to the non-horizontal surface of the airfoil body 365, such that the scanning head 20a is suspended from the non-horizontal surface, b, and the scanning head is suspended from the flexible track 72 b to the non-horizontal surface 20b, when the scanning head is moved from the second scanning head to the second scanning head 20b, the second scanning head is suspended from the second scanning head, the second scanning head is suspended from the second scanning head 72 b, the second scanning head is suspended from the second scanning head 20b to the second scanning head, the second scanning head is suspended from the second scanning head, the scanning head 14b, the second scanning head is suspended from the second scanning head, the second scanning head is suspended from the second scanning head 14b, the second scanning head is suspended from the second scanning head, the second scanning head 20b, the second scanning head is suspended from the second scanning head, the second scanning head, the scanning head is suspended from the second scanning head, the second scanning head is suspended from the second scanning head, the second scanning head, the second scanning head.

The method characterized in paragraph , the pair of scanning heads 20a and 20b vacuum attached to opposite side surfaces 114 and 116 of an airfoil body (e.g., wind turbine blade 108) may both simultaneously follow a respective serpentine scan path designed to cover the entire respective side surface, the carriage drive motor 50 and the spool motor 52 mounted on the carriage 46a and the transducer array 6 carried by the scanning head 20a may be operated to effect a second 0 serpentine scan path, for example, (a) when the scanning head is at the height, the carriage 46a is moved along the flexible track 42 from the nd orientation to a second orientation on the flexible track, (b) when the carriage 46a is moved from the second orientation to the second orientation and the scanning head 20a is moved parallel to the carriage 46a, the transducer array 6 carried by the scanning head 20a is activated to acquire the th swath width (swath) NDI transducer data from the 7374 bar area by moving the carriage 7375 th bar area, to acquire the third swath width (swath) NDI transducer data from the second scanning area, and when the carriage 46a is moved back to the scanning head 20a, the scanning head 20a is moved about equal to the second orientation, the scanning head 46a is moved about the second scanning area, and the scanning head 20a is moved about the scanning area is moved about equal to the second scanning area, and the scanning head 20b is moved about the scanning area, the scanning area is displayed by the scanning width, the scanning head 46a is displayed by the scanning head 22b, the scanning area, the scanning head 46a is displayed by the scanning width, the scanning area is displayed by the scanning area, the scanning area is displayed by the scanning area, the scanning head 22b, the scanning area is displayed by the scanning area, the scanning area is displayed by the scanning area, the scanning area is displayed by the scanning area, the scanning.

According to embodiments, the sensor array 6 may be an ultrasonic transducer array 88 fig. 17 is a block diagram of components of a computer control device for performing ultrasonic inspection operations on the wind turbine blades 108 according to any embodiment described in fig. 2 and 5, the system includes a control subsystem that uses a rotary encoder to track the relative position of each ultrasonic transducer array 88 (e.g., relative to an initial position obtained using a local positioning system including a laser rangefinder), more particularly, the control system includes a ground-based control computer 90 programmed with motion control application 92 and NDI scanning application 94, the control computer 90 communicates with a respective motor controller (not shown) that controls operation of a respective spool motor 54, each spool motor 54 may in turn be operated to drive rotation of a respective spool 52 during winding or unwinding of the cable 22 by a respective , the control computer 90 also communicates with a motor controller (not shown) that controls operation of the cart drive motor 62, in turn may be operated to drive rotation of a respective spool 52 to drive the cart 26, more particularly, a driven wheel 26 that may be rotationally driven by a motor 110 that is coupled to drive cart drive the wheel 26, more particularly, a cart drive wheel 26 that is rotationally propels the cart drive the cart 26, a wheel 18, or a cart 26, a cart drive wheel 26, that may be rotationally, a cart, or a wheel 26, according to be described in fig. 2, or a method of the method of driving a method.

According to suggested embodiments, each spool motor 54 and cart drive motor 62 are stepper motors, the control computer 90 may include a general purpose computer programmed with motion control application software 92, the motion control application software 92 including respective software modules for controlling each spool motor 54 and cart drive motor 62. the motion control application 92 controls operation of the motors based on rotational feedback from the respective rotary encoders (i.e., spool rotary encoder 64 and cart wheel rotary encoder 66. the rotation counts from the encoders are converted to linear measurements. more specifically, the counts from spool rotary encoder 64 represent the distance traveled by the scan head 20 in the vertical or chordal direction, while the counts from cart wheel rotary encoder 66 represent the distance traveled by the cart 18 in the horizontal or spanwise direction. in embodiments, the control computer 90 is connected to the motors and encoders via an electronic box (not shown in FIG. 17) and power/signal lines (not shown) that connect the ground control workstation to the cart 18 on the wind turbine blades 108. the electronic box contains power system connections and provides an interface between the power control computer 90 and the scan head control system (see, e.g., FIG. 4).

In another embodiment, the control computer 90 wirelessly communicates with the cart 18 via a wireless system, such as a Radio Frequency (RF) system, then inspection information may be wirelessly transmitted in real time from the cart 18 to the control computer 90 to enable a remote operator to visually observe the inspection of the wind turbine blade 108 in real time in other embodiments, the scan head 20 may wirelessly communicate directly with the control computer 90, receive the ultrasonic transducer activation signal, and independently transmit the acquired ultrasonic inspection data.

According to variations of the wireless embodiment, the cart 18 includes a power source (e.g., a battery) to drive various motors to position the cart 18 and the scan heads 20 to perform inspection of the wind turbine blades 108.

The encoded data from the spool and cart wheel rotary encoders 64, 66 on the cart 18 is provided to an ultrasonic pulser/receiver 96, which ultrasonic pulser/receiver 96 may be mounted on the cart 18 or at a control workstation in the former case, inspection information from the scan head 20 may be transmitted to the ultrasonic pulser/receiver 96 on the cart 18 via the respective power/signal lines 60 or wirelessly in the latter case, the encoded data from the spool and cart wheel rotary encoders 64, 66 on the cart 18 may be transmitted to the ultrasonic pulser/receiver 96 on the ground via a cable or wireless communication channel.

Still referring to fig. 17, the pulse generator/receiver 96 sends encoder pulses to the NDI scan application 94. The NDI scan application 94 uses the encoder values to position the scan data in the appropriate location. The control computer 90 runs (host) ultrasound data acquisition and display software that controls the ultrasound pulser/receiver 96. The ultrasound pulser/receiver 96 in turn sends pulses to the ultrasound transducer array 88 and receives return signals from the ultrasound transducer array 88. The NDI scan application software 94 controls the display of all details of the scan data and data, including the stitching of data acquired during adjacent scans/sweeps (sweep) of the ultrasound transducer array 88.

The system shown in FIG. 17 also includes a cart orientation detection system 98, which cart orientation detection system 98 is configured to acquire cart orientation data representing an initial coordinate orientation of the cart 18 relative to the coordinate system (i.e., reference frame) of the wind turbine blade 108. once the initial coordinate orientation of the cart 18 is determined, the data acquired by the cart wheel rotational encoder 66 may be used to track each incremental movement away from or toward the initial coordinate orientation. this enables the control computer 90 to track the spanwise orientation of the cart 18 during the performance of a non-destructive inspection of the wind turbine blade 108.

For example, the cart orientation detection system 98 may take many different forms.A cart orientation detection system 98 may include a strip encoder (strip encoder) mounted on the cart 18. the strip encoder includes a strip having ends that may be attached to a strip encoder attachment device fixedly coupled to the root of the wind turbine blade 108. the strip encoder may be used to measure the distance of the cart 18 from the hub 106, which in turn enables determination of the spanwise orientation of the cart 18 on the wind turbine blade. in a scan scenario where the scan heads 20 are along adjacent chordwise scan paths, the control sweep computer 90 may be configured to determine and map the spanwise orientation of each scan head 20 along the wind turbine blade 108 based in part on the spanwise orientation of the cart 18, and then use the azimuth map of each scan head 20 to stitch the acquired NDI sensor data at to image the scan area.

According to an alternative embodiment, the cart position detection system 98 may include a laser rangefinder mounted on the hub 106 of the wind turbine 100 and an optical target (e.g., a retro-reflector) mounted on the cart 18 (or vice versa.) the control computer 90 may be programmed to control operation of the laser rangefinder and receive rangefinding data therefrom for wireless transmission to the control station the measurement data from the laser rangefinder may be used to obtain an estimate of the distance from the laser rangefinder to the optical target, which may be used to calculate the spanwise position of the cart 18 in the reference frame of the wind turbine blades 108. typical laser rangefinders include a laser diode that emits a beam of generally visible laser light to the optical target.

According to another embodiment, the cart orientation detection system 98 may include closed loop feedback control using a motion capture system of the type disclosed in detail in U.S. Pat. No.7,643,893. according to embodiments, the motion capture system is configured to measure the spanwise orientation of the cart 18 as the cart 18 is operated within the control volume.

For example, where the sensors 8 are ultrasonic transducers, the location of the sensor array 6 is correlated with the acquired NDI sensor data to ensure complete coverage and possibly create an NDI map of the surface of the wind turbine blade.

(a) A strip encoder extending from the cart 18 to each scan head 20 may be used.

(b) If the rolling elements 4 are wheels, a wheel rotary encoder on each scan head 20 can be used to track the vertical motion.

(c) To maintain a line of sight, the laser device may be mounted on the distal end of a robotic arm (e.g., an articulated arm) extending from each side of the cart 18, while the optical targets are mounted on the scanner heads 20 such that the emitted laser beams impinge on these optical targets.

(d) Camera or video based methods may be used, such as motion capture using optical targets mounted on each scan head 20.

(e) A rotary encoder coupled to the cable spool 52 may be used to provide a cross-blade (across-blade) position determination.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram of components identifying a computer control device for performing a non-destructive inspection operation on a wind turbine blade using the cart 16 according to the embodiment described in FIGS. 9 and 10. in this example, the components of the cart 18 are controlled by an on-board computer 72, which on-board computer 72 may be configured with programming stored in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium (not shown). in particular, the computer 72 may be programmed to execute radio frequency commands received from a ground-based control computer 90. these radio frequency commands are sent by a transceiver 82 communicatively coupled to the ground-based control computer 90, received by a transceiver 74 on the cart 16, converted to a suitable digital format, and then forwarded to the on-board computer 72.

The control computer 90 may comprise a general purpose computer system configured with programming for controlling the operation of the cart 16. For example, the control computer 90 may send scan path commands to the computer 72 for controlling the operation of the spool motor 54 and the cart drive motor 62 through the respective motor controllers 70. In response to receiving the scan path command, the on-cart computer 72 is configured to control the operation of the spool motor 54 and cart drive motor 62 such that the scan head 20 follows the specified scan path. The control computer 90 may also be configured to control activation of a sensor array 6 (not shown in fig. 18) carried by the scan head 20 as the scan head follows a prescribed scan path.

Further, the control computer 90 is configured with programming for processing data received from the cart 18 via the transceivers 74 and 82 during inspection operations. In particular, the control computer 90 may include a display processor configured with software for controlling the display monitor 84 to display an image representative of acquired NDO sensor data.

In addition, the on-board computer 72 is also configured to issue commands to the respective motor controllers 70 for controlling the operation of the pivot arm motors 56 and counterweight motors 58, which commands are triggered by feedback from respective sensors 76, which sensors 76 monitor the imbalance status of the cart 18 and the positional relationship of the rocker arm mounts 28 and receiving collets 30 for the respective scan heads 20, respectively. More specifically, the plurality of sensors 76 includes (but is not limited to): (1) a pivot arm activation sensor that detects when a sufficient length of each rocker arm stand 28 has engaged the associated receiving collet 30 to enable the pivot arm 14 to effectively manipulate the scan head 20; and (2) a cart imbalance sensor that detects when the cart 18 is being pulled out of its equilibrium orientation by an imbalance force greater than a specified threshold. When the rocker arm stand 28 is engaged with the receiving collet 30, the computer 72 activates the pivot arm motor 56, causing the pivot arm 14 to rotate. When cart 18 becomes sufficiently unbalanced, computer 72 activates counterweight motor 58, causing counterweight lead screw 59 to rotate, thereby displacing counterweight 15 to an orientation calculated to offset the imbalance force.

While the apparatus and method for performing large area scanning of wind turbine blades or other large structures (e.g., aircraft fuselages and wings) for non-destructive inspection purposes has been described with reference to specific embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the teachings herein. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation to the teachings herein without departing from the essential scope thereof. Thus, the claims set forth below are not limited to the disclosed embodiments.

As used herein, the term "computer system" should be construed synonymously by to encompass a system having at least computers or processors, and which may have multiple computers or processors communicating over a network or bus As used in the preceding sentence, the terms "computer" and "processor" both refer to a device that includes a processing unit (e.g., a central processing unit) and some form of memory (i.e., a computer-readable medium) for storing programs that are readable by the processing unit.

The methods described herein may be encoded as executable instructions embodied in a non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage medium (including, but not limited to, storage devices and/or memory devices). when executed by a processor or computer, the instructions cause the processor or computer to perform at least portions of the methods described herein.

Further, the present disclosure includes embodiments according to the following clauses:

clause 1, an automated apparatus for performing non-destructive testing of a subject, comprising:

a wheeled vehicle comprising a frame, a plurality of wheels rotatably coupled to the frame, and a drive motor operably coupled to drive rotation of at least wheels of the plurality of wheels;

an th spool rotatably coupled to the frame;

an spool motor mounted on the frame and operably coupled to drive rotation of the spool;

an th chassis including a base and at least vacuum attachment apparatuses mounted to or incorporated into the base of the th chassis;

an th cable with its end attached to the th spool and the other end attached to the base of the th chassis;

a second cable with its end attached to the spool and another end attached to the base of the chassis;

an th sensor array attached to the base of the th chassis, and

a computer system configured to control operation of the drive motor, the spool motor, and the sensor array to acquire sensor data over a th scan area on a surface of a body.

Clause 2, the robotic device of clause 1, further comprising a plurality of rolling elements rotatably coupled to the th chassis, wherein:

the plurality of rolling elements are configured to all simultaneously contact a surface of the body;

the at least vacuum attachment devices are configured to create a floating attachment to the surface of the body when the rolling elements of the th chassis are in contact with the surface of the body, and

when the rolling element of the th chassis is in contact with the surface of the body, the th sensor array is directed toward the th scanning area on the surface of the body.

Clause 3, the robot of clause 1, wherein the rolling elements of the th chassis are not operably coupled to any motor.

Clause 4, the automated apparatus of clause 1, wherein the th sensor array comprises a conformable sensor support plate and a plurality of sensors attached to the conformable sensor support plate.

Clause 5, the automated apparatus of clause 4, wherein the plurality of sensors are ultrasonic transducers or eddy current sensors.

Clause 6, the automated apparatus of clause 1, further comprising:

a second spool rotatably coupled to the frame;

a second chassis comprising a second base and at least second vacuum attachment apparatuses mounted to or incorporated into the second chassis base;

a third cable having its end attached to the second spool and its end attached to the second chassis base;

a fourth cable having its end attached to the second spool and its end attached to the second chassis base, and

a second sensor array attached to the second chassis base.

Clause 7, the automated apparatus of clause 1, further comprising:

a second chassis comprising a second base and at least second vacuum attachment apparatuses mounted to or incorporated into the second chassis base;

a third cable with its end attached to the spool and another end attached to the second chassis base;

a fourth cable having its end attached to the spool and its end attached to the second chassis base, and

a second sensor array attached to the second chassis base.

Clause 8, the automated apparatus of clause 1, further comprising a second sensor array attached to the frame.

Clause 9, the automated apparatus of clause 1, further comprising a track, wherein the wheeled vehicle is coupled to and movable along the track.

Clause 10, the robot of clause 1, further comprising a counterweight slidably coupled to the frame for adjusting an orientation of the counterweight to at least partially counteract a force exerted on the wheeled vehicle by the weight of the th chassis and th sensor array.

Clause 11, an automated apparatus for performing non-destructive testing of a subject, comprising:

a wheeled vehicle comprising a frame, a plurality of wheels rotatably coupled to the frame, and a drive motor operably coupled to drive rotation of at least wheels of the plurality of wheels;

a second spool rotatably coupled to the frame;

a first pivot arm and a second pivot arm rotatably coupled to the frame for rotation about a rotation axis;

a receiving collet and a second receiving collet fixedly coupled to or formed in body with the respective distal ends of the and second pivot arms ;

a chassis comprising a base and at least vacuum attachment devices mounted to or incorporated into the chassis;

a rocker arm bracket and a second rocker arm bracket rotatably coupled to the chassis base for rotation about a second axis of rotation parallel to the axis of rotation and configured to slidably fit within the receiving collet and the second receiving collet, respectively;

an th cable with its end attached to the th spool and the other end attached to the th rocker arm stand;

a second cable having an end attached to the second spool and another end attached to the second rocker arm stand, and

a sensor array attached to the chassis base.

Clause 12, the robot of clause 11, further comprising a plurality of rolling elements rotatably coupled to the chassis base.

Clause 13, the robotic device of clause 11, wherein the third pivot arm and the second pivot arm are operably coupled to a pivot arm motor.

Clause 14, the robot of clause 11, wherein the th cable and the second cable pass through the th receiving collet and the second receiving collet, respectively.

Clause 15, a method for performing non-destructive testing of an airfoil body, the method comprising:

orienting an airfoil body such that a leading edge of the airfoil body is disposed substantially vertically;

wrapping a flexible track around and attaching the flexible track to the airfoil body such that the flexible track lies in a generally horizontal plane;

coupling an th wheeled vehicle to the flexible track such that the th wheeled vehicle is movable along the flexible track;

suspending a th scanning head from the th wheeled vehicle using an th cable and a second cable;

attaching the th scanning head to a th non-horizontal surface of the airfoil body such that the th scanning head is free to float about the th non-horizontal surface;

unwinding the th cable and the second cable until the th scanning head is suspended at a th height;

moving the wheeled vehicle substantially horizontally along the flexible track from a th orientation adjacent a th region of the non-horizontal surface of the airfoil body to a second orientation adjacent a second region of the non-horizontal surface of the airfoil body, the second region of the non-horizontal surface being closer to a leading edge of the airfoil body than the th region of the non-horizontal surface, when the scanning head is suspended at the th elevation, and

acquiring sensor data from the non-horizontal surface of the airfoil body using the th scanning head as the th wheeled vehicle moves from the th orientation to the second orientation.

Clause 16, the method of clause 15, further comprising:

moving the wheeled vehicle along the flexible track generally horizontally from the second orientation to a third orientation adjacent a region of a second non-horizontal surface of the airfoil body when the scanner head is suspended at the elevation, and

as the wheeled vehicle moves from the second orientation to the third orientation, sensor data is acquired from a third non-horizontal surface of the airfoil body intersecting the leading edge using the scan head.

Clause 17, the method of clause 16, further comprising:

moving the wheeled vehicle substantially horizontally along the flexible track from the third orientation to a fourth orientation adjacent a second region of the second non-horizontal surface of the airfoil body, the region of the second non-horizontal surface being closer to the leading edge than the second region of the second non-horizontal surface, when the scanning head is suspended at the elevation, and

acquiring sensor data from the second non-horizontal surface of the airfoil body using the scan head as the wheeled vehicle moves from the third orientation to the fourth orientation.

Clause 18, the method of clause 15, further comprising:

coupling a second wheeled vehicle to the flexible track such that the second wheeled vehicle is movable along the flexible track;

suspending a second scan head from the second wheeled vehicle using a third cable and a fourth cable;

attaching the second scanning head to a second non-horizontal surface of the airfoil body such that the second scanning head is free to float about the second non-horizontal surface;

unwinding the third and fourth cables until the second scanning head is suspended at a second height;

moving the second wheeled vehicle generally horizontally along the flexible track from a third orientation adjacent a third region of a second non-horizontal surface of the airfoil body to a fourth orientation adjacent a second region of a second non-horizontal surface of the airfoil body, the third region of the second non-horizontal surface being closer to the leading edge of the airfoil body than the second region of the second non-horizontal surface, when the second scanning head is suspended at the second elevation, and

acquiring sensor data from the second non-horizontal surface of the airfoil body using the second scanning head as the second wheeled vehicle moves from the third orientation to the fourth orientation,

wherein the th and second scanning heads simultaneously acquire sensor data as the th and second wheeled vehicles simultaneously move along the flexible track.

Clause 19, a method for performing non-destructive testing of a subject, the method comprising:

(a) coupling a wheeled vehicle to a body such that the wheeled vehicle is movable in a substantially horizontal direction relative to the body;

(b) suspending a th scan head from the wheeled vehicle using an th cable and a second cable;

(c) attaching the th scanning head to a th non-horizontal surface on a side of a body such that the th scanning head is free to float about the th non-horizontal surface;

(d) unwinding or winding the and second cables to vertically displace the scan head when the scan head is attached to the non-horizontal surface, and

(e) acquiring th sensor data from the th non-horizontal surface of the body using the th scanning head as the th scanning head moves vertically.

Clause 20, the method of clause 19, further comprising:

(f) suspending a second scan head from the wheeled vehicle using a third cable and a fourth cable;

(g) attaching the second scanning head to a second non-horizontal surface of the body such that the second scanning head is free to float about the second non-horizontal surface when attached to the second non-horizontal surface;

(h) unwinding or winding the third and fourth cables to vertically displace the second scan head; and

(i) acquiring second NDI sensor data from the second non-horizontal surface of the body using the second scanning head as the second scanning head moves vertically.

Clause 21, the method of clause 20, wherein steps (e) and (i) are performed simultaneously.

Clause 22, the method of clause 19, wherein step (a) comprises placing the wheeled vehicle on a substantially horizontal surface of the body connecting the th and second non-horizontal surfaces of the body.

Clause 23, the method of clause 19, further comprising:

wrapping the th cable and the second cable to displace the th scanning head vertically upward to a th orientation near and on the side of the leading edge of the body while the th scanning head remains attached to the th non-horizontal surface;

rotating a pivoting arm to move the th scan head from the position to a second position proximate to and on the other side of the leading edge of the body while the th scan head remains attached to the leading edge;

unwinding the th and second cables to displace the th scanning head vertically downward to a third orientation proximate and on the other side of the leading edge of the body while the th scanning head remains attached to a second non-horizontal surface on the other side of the body, and

acquiring NDI sensor data from the and second non-horizontal surfaces of the subject using the th scanning head as the th scanning head moves vertically up and then vertically down.

The methods set forth in this disclosure should not be construed as requiring that the steps described therein be performed in alphabetical order (any alphabetical order in the claims is used merely to reference the previously described steps) or in the order in which they are described, unless the claim language explicitly specifies or states a condition indicating a particular order of performing some or all of these steps. The method claims should not be construed to exclude any portion of two or more steps performed simultaneously or in alternation, unless the claim language expressly states a condition to exclude such interpretation.