Navantia Seanergies has carried out its first visual inspection of an offshore wind structure using an autonomous aerial drone at its shipyard in Fene, Spain. The drone inspection system was developed through a collaboration between Navantia Seanergies and the Andalusian Association for Research and Industrial Cooperation (AICIA), together with the Robotics, Vision and Control Research Group linked to the Higher Technical School of Engineering at the University of Seville.
During the inspection session, live images captured by the drone were displayed on screens at the shipyard, allowing inspection teams to monitor details of the selected jacket structure. The system provided both standard views and magnified images, with up to x40 optical zoom and x80 digital zoom, enabling detection and localisation of defects.
According to the project partners, the inspection also confirmed that x5 zoom delivers visual capability equivalent to that of an expert operator in line with applicable regulations.
