Robots of the Wind

39 Ways to Save the Planet

The UK government is betting big on offshore wind to provide a huge percentage of our electricity by 2030. The turbines are certainly efficient, low carbon energy producers but they have one Achilles heel. They're expensive to maintain and repair. Boats or helicopters have to be sent out with a maintenance crew- it's dangerous and costly work. Developers in robotics and artificial intelligence have got together to come up with a solution. If an offshore turbine needs checking an unmanned boat will head out to sea. Once in position it will launch a drone which can inspect the turbine. If a closer look is needed then the drone can launch its secret weapon- the BladeBUG. It's a suitcase-sized robot which can cling to the huge turbine blades, check them and even clean or repair them. They should make new offshore wind development cheaper and safer.

Tom Heap meets the experts behind the robots - BladeBUG CEO Chris Cieslak; Professor Sara Bernardini from Royal Holloway, University of London - and works out the carbon impact of offshore wind expansion with climate scientist, Tamsin Edwards of King's College London.

Producer: Alasdair Cross

Researcher: Sarah Goodman

Produced in association with the Royal Geographical Society. Special thanks for this episode to Professor Stephen Peake from the Open University and Rob Maynard from Ocean Resource Engineers Ltd.