Tom Sulzer, Co-Founder, Sulzer & Schmid Laboratories AG

Host: Dr. Javier Hidalgo Carrio, Department of Informatics, University of Zurich

Strong winds, sand, dust, rain, hail, and snow are some of the things wind turbines and their rotor blades are exposed to and must withstand. With increasingly larger blades and a growing number of offshore windfarms, inspecting and maintaining these windfarms in a safe, timely, and cost-efficient way has become key to securing an optimal output, thus improving the cost-efficiency of future mobility solutions. In recent years, autonomous drones have revolutionized the wind industry. The method offers fast, safe, and accurate inspections but more importantly, with a powerful analytics tool we can analyse the data, get an overview of the health of entire fleets and use it to optimize operation and maintenance strategies.