AR, new tech for the wind techs.

Recently I posted a poll about will technology replace wind turbine techs. You can see the results in the link below.

https://www.dhirubhai.net/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7165661875421044737/

So lets look at what could possibly be down the road for wind techs in the use of AR, (Augmented Reality) as a full time assistant for them.

Initially, it was worth mentioning that wind turbines generally require preventative maintenance check ups two to three times per year. At the same time, in-person manual inspections are subject to human error. Also, can take up to a full day for a single tower.

So how can AR help?

1. Its possible to have real time connection to an external expert away from the wind farm if you need help problem solving or with inspections.
2. It will be able to walk you through a set of enhanced instructions step by step interacting with what you see whilst working, training or inspecting removing the human errors.
3. It enables your turbine maintenance to be hand free with headset only..
4. Identifying parts and methods of removing or installing parts safely.
5. There will be choices mobile AR or Headset AR / Glasses.

So, is there any downside that the industry in AR is talking about.

1. The initial cost set up to any wind energy business wanting to incorporate AR into its working day for wind techs is going to be an astonishing amount of money that probably wouldn't be recouped for some length of time for both mobile and headset.
2. Some of the current glasses designed are bulky and actually intrusive, that could be a problem for a wind tech. Streamlining design could help.
3. The field of view (FOV) is limited on some glasses.
4. Will the power last in the glasses for the time a tech needs it. The more you're using any device the more the battery is diminished. Same could be said for a mobile device though they would most likely last longer.
5. EMF in headsets (Electromagnetic Frequencies) Are EMFs bad for the human body? I’d like to think not, but with no serious long-term health studies, the jury is still out on this one. And in the chance that they do produce unforeseen long-term effects, having an EMF factory strapped to your head for long hours at a time might be a bit questionable.
6. Unforeseen retina issues with the way some glasses have been set up. There are two primary ways to create a holographic effect with AR headsets. Augmented Reality Video Passthrough – it might be the long-term winner. Imagine putting on a headset and seeing all black. But now turn the front-facing camera on, and you can see everything in front of you on the headset’s internal screen. With this method, it’s relatively easy to render 3D items into the video feed, simply like what mobile AR does. But there's the downside of limited FOV. The next one, Laser Beams, a very fascinating one at that. You look through a transparent glass lens, like normal massive glasses, and inwardly facing (pointing directly at your eyes) lasers are being produced to give an illusion of 3D objects beyond the headset’s clear lens. now there is no long term health results for this either, so who knows where this could go.

Conclusion.

With new technology comes a whole new set of challenges, especially when it comes to solidifying the technology for commercial use on windfarms.

Yes being able to use new technologies is great in industry but there are safety concerns first and foremost in industry and until the AR is able to address that it will be a slow burn before all the techs are linked up to all this AR.

I do think that down the line though Just like when we used to be able to remember our friends and family’s landline numbers by heart, the same goes with how AR will change the way we work, and the way our brain operates.

So how long before its a fully integrated wind package for techs?

Who knows!!!!