A collaboration between University of Bristol engineers and a company founded by Bristol graduates has been awarded a £1.2 million to develop a surface inspection system for offshore wind turbines using drones. Perceptual Robotics, a company based at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL), is developing an automated inspection system based on drones fitted with cameras.
They have teamed up with the University’s Visual Information Lab to develop advanced techniques for 3D tracking to support drone navigation. The consortium also includes ASV Global and VulcanUAV. Perceptual Robotics was started by Bristol alumni Dimitris Nikolaidis, Kevin Lind and Kostas Karachalios, graduates in mechanical engineering, and Dr Tom Richardson, Senior Lecturer in Flight Mechanics in the University’s Department of Aerospace Engineering. The University research will be led by Dr Andrew Calway, Reader in Computer Vision, and an expert on techniques for localising and navigating autonomous systems.