In Suzlon, we were maintaining over 9000 wind turbines (13 Giga Watts) in remote areas spread across the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, AP, Telangana and Tamil Nadu.
In 2018 with the help of my Head of Data Analytics Late Col Vinay Gupta (EME) we forayed into using VR and AR to train and also guide/empower our technicians maintaining the fleet.
Virtual Reality (VR) creates an immersive virtual environment, while AR augments a real-world scene. VR is largely virtual, while AR is only partly virtual. VR users move in a completely virtual world, while AR users are in contact with the real world. VR packages were developed to give trainees in classrooms a real world feel of being in a turbine. Also packages were developed showing them how various maintenance practises are actually carried out. We were able to also identify trainees who were scared of working at heights.
Augmented reality (AR) is the integration of digital information with the user’s environment in real time. Unlike virtual reality (VR), which creates a totally artificial environment, AR users experience a real-world environment with generated perceptual information overlaid on top of it.
Wind turbines generally required preventative maintenance checkups two to three times per year. At the same time, in-person manual inspections are subject to human error and can take up to a full day for a single tower. In these conditions, AR remote assistance enabled effective and highly interactive communication between a central expert and a worker who is conducting the field inspection. This communication was possible in real-time and gave the central team the opportunity to see exactly what the field worker saw.
It strengthened communication and real-time cooperation by preventing problems that may be encountered but also by providing solutions to various problems that lead to the malfunction of turbines.
Thanks to this it was possible for the field worker to easily follow in detail the expert instructions already enhanced with AR elements.
AR remote assistance was a great way to provide cost-effective solutions as in many cases for various problems in the absence of proper expertise for inspection and maintenance. This saved us from huge losses as we did not have to wait until the right expert comes to the field.
By Brig YVR Vijay
