Ithaca firm hopes GE research project leads to more wind-sector work

ITHACA — An Ithaca company worked with GE Global Research to develop new technology for inspecting wind-turbine blades.

International Climbing Machines (ICM) of Ithaca worked on the project with GE Global Research, which serves as GE’s hub for technology development. GE Global Research is based in Niskayuna, near Schenectady.

ICM’s remote-controlled climber can scale virtually any inverted or vertical surface, according to the company. The firm formed in 2001 to develop a climber that could scale surfaces that include objects like raised bolts and weld seams.

GE Global Research has a team that supports GE’s wind business, and turbine inspections have been a focus, says Waseem Faidi, manager of the facility’s non-destructive evaluation lab. Currently, inspectors examine blades from the ground using strong telescopes.

The project with ICM involved mounting a camera to one of the company’s climbers, allowing for more detailed and effective inspections, Faidi says. The blades are inspected regularly for damage from wind, bugs, and dirt.

The wind industry is a key area of focus for ICM, says Sam Maggio, company president. The firm has reached out to major players in the area like Siemens and GE.

GE eventually sent an engineer to Ithaca to take a look at ICM’s climber. A positive report back eventually led to the joint project, Maggio says.

“We view [wind energy] as one of the top market’s for ICM’s future,” he says.

The telescope method currently used to inspect blades presents some difficulties. The blades themselves are white and details are often difficult to discern against a cloudy sky from a distance, says Arvind Rangarajan, a mechanical engineer at GE Global Research.

The climber-mounted camera eliminates that problem and can even carry a light to improve visibility further.

The camera system also works in cold weather, Rangarajan adds. Blades sometimes must be inspected more frequently during winter months to check for damage, but cold makes that challenging for workers.

The ICM climber can be controlled from indoors, allowing for thorough inspections even in poor conditions, Rangarajan says.

Various safety regulations often prevent humans from scaling the towers to inspect or repair them in high winds, Maggio says. Wind farm operators are sometimes forced to shut down turbines if blades need work, but winds are too strong for workers to climb.

“We can access those blades in high winds and very cold temperatures,” Maggio says. “It gives anyone a huge advantage in keeping their wind farms operating.”

GE Global Research handles initial development of projects. The ideas are handed off to the appropriate business unit within GE for final decisions on commercialization.

The status of the project with ICM is undecided, according to GE.

The wind team at GE Global Research has explored other methods for improving inspections as well, including better telescopes and even unmanned aircraft, Faidi says.

The next challenge for the climber system would be to carry sensors along with a camera, he adds. That would allow inspectors to check for problems inside the blades, in addition to examining surface damage.

Maggio says ICM is hoping to move beyond inspections. The company’s climber could be outfitted with robotic arms and epoxy injectors to repair damage from incidents like bird strikes.

In addition to the wind market, ICM is also exploring work with the Department of Defense. The company’s climbers could be used for work on submarines and ships, Maggio says.

ICM, which has less than 10 employees, is also looking to work with utilities on inspections of aging infrastructure like hydroelectric dams and cooling towers at power plants.

GE is one of the world’s largest suppliers of wind turbines with a fleet of 18,000 turbines worldwide. The climber technology was tested at a wind farm in Texas with positive results, according to GE.