An autonomous underwater robot, powered by AI, designed to adapt and react to rough seas in real-time, is being developed in the UK to help inspect and repair offshore wind farms. In the UK, over 2,600 wind turbines are located offshore, and there are plans to increase this capacity fourfold by the year 2030. Typically, each of these turbines requires maintenance checks up to three times annually, a rate that tends to increase as the turbines get older. Currently under trials in Edinburgh as part of the UK-government backed £1.4 million ($1.7 million) 'Underwater Intervention for Offshore Renewable Energies' (UNITE) project, the autonomous robots could enable high-precision operations even in turbulent sea conditions.
NATIONAL ROBOTARIUM / REUTERS / FRONTIER ROBOTICS