Cyberhawk Innovations has reported 12 months of success within its wind division due to demand from domestic and international markets.
The world leader in aerial inspection and survey using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, has worked with 16 clients across the U.K., Ireland, and Europe during 2016, and has inspected hundreds of wind-turbine blades.
Key milestones for Cyberhawk have included:
- Securing a global framework agreement with a large wind-turbine manufacturer.
- A further framework agreement with one of the U.K.’s largest wind operators.
- First inspection contract at an offshore wind farm outside the U.K.
- First contract to inspect an offshore transformer platform.
- Inspection of multiple metrological masts, including at the Round 3 Dogger Bank offshore wind farm.
In 2016, Cyberhawk also completed a contract for wind-energy operator, Engie. This project involved the inspection of the blades at multiple wind farms.
Integral to the success of this project was iHawk, Cyberhawk’s proprietary, cloud-based, asset management software. IHawk provides clients with the ability to quickly and easily view and understand the condition of their assets backed up with high definition visual evidence of the complete blade and accurately sized, positioned, and analyzed defects.
“Having trialed several different methods of the latest blade-inspection technology, we have identified that drone inspections provide consistent, safe, and cost effective results,” said Robert Cooper, assistant technical engineer at Engie. “The iHawk platform used to categorize the defects and analyze the results is where Cyberhawk has really excelled. The platform is extremely intuitive, allowing us to make informed decisions on the future of our wind-turbine blades.”
“Throughout 2016, we have seen the industry embrace our technology and take advantage of the benefits on offer, which include reduced safety risks, major cost savings, and improved inspection times,” said Chris Fleming, CEO at Cyberhawk. “IHawk is a major part of our business model and has played a key role in our success in the renewables sector. By converting raw images captured by UAVs into powerful asset management information, reporting on iHawk provides operators with a highly advanced asset management solution.”
“2016 was a very positive year for Cyberhawk,” Fleming said. “We have continued to build strong, successful relationships with our clients, which in turn has allowed us to identify new opportunities for growth, particularly internationally. It is an exciting time for the whole team with 2017 showing signs for further substantial growth.”
Headquartered in Livingston, Scotland, and with bases in Houston, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, Cyberhawk carried out the first UAV industrial inspection in 2009 and since then, has completed more than 25 world firsts to date, with blue-chip customers in more than 20 countries on four continents.
Source: Cyberhawk Innovations
For more information, go to www.thecyberhawk.com
