AUTONOMOUS INSPECTION OF ELONGATED STRUCTURES USING UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES

摘要

Devices and methods of autonomously inspecting elongated structures, such as blades of wind turbines, are disclosed. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is guided towards the elongated structure. The UAV automatically senses distance from the elongated structure. The UAV autonomously maintains a distance greater than a safety distance and identifies an optimum inspecting distance from the elongated structure. The UAV is then autonomously placed at the optimum inspecting distance to automatically record data pertinent to at least a region of the elongated structure when the UAV is at the optimum inspecting distance.