Youibot Robotics (优艾智合), a Chinese AMR and inspection robot producer, recently deployed its wheeled inspection robots to an offshore wind farm near southern China’s Guangdong Province.
According to Chinese media reports, this is the first time an offshore wind farm has used an autonomous robot to conduct safety patrol in the country, paving solid groundwork for unmanned robotic inspection to be promoted industry-wide.
This robot, named ARIS-MR3.0, was provided by Shenzhen-based Youibot, which is capable of various functions, including visual recognition, remote control of environmental monitoring and smart dispatch.
It was put to work at the booster station of a 500 MW wind farm in waters off the coast of Guangdong Province. The original Chinese reports didn’t specify the exact location.
The robot is tasked with inspecting electric equipment, beaming back images and evaluating the status of the booster station.
One of the challenges for robots to work on the offshore wind farm is to withstand the heat, humidity and erosion, which staff said have put “high” demands on inspection devices.
“Under the traditional modes of inspection, the personnel involved need to overcome the hardships associated with working at sea,” one of the wind farm employees was quoted as saying, without being named in the Chinese reports.
“In the meantime, since the maritime environment is unique, inspection awaits a good timing. This brings tremendous limitations for wind farm maintenance.”
Changes came after the adoption of Youibot’s products. Subject to a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week work schedule, these robotic inspectors automate as much as 98% of the human labor, cutting costs and enhancing efficiency.
Suited to maritime operations, ARIS-MR3.0 has a built-in smart system that can identify equipment in a booster station.
Based on the data it collects and transmits in real time, the robot leverages smart analytical tools to complete a series of jobs, ranging from assessment of risks to issue an alert, to prompt decision-making.
The robots supplied by Youibot also enable data traceability to help determine the cause of accident.
This has been hailed by Chinese medi as an improvement to smart management of electric equipment on a wind farm.
Youibot’s product line consists of AMRs tailored to 3C, lithium battery and semiconductor industries who require flexible solutions to empower in-factory handling of materials and goods.
The company is also known for its provision of intelligent inspection robotics to energy suppliers.
It builds on strengths in robotics, AI visual algorithms, and multiple-robot dispatch to offer one-stop solutions to clients such as smart power plants and smart grid operators.
To date, Youibot has supplied its services to State Grid, CHN Energy, China Huaneng Group, China Huadian Corporation and a dozen more companies.
