Providing Expert Guidance To The Remote Workforce Using AR

By Charlie Neagoy, VP Business Development at Librestream Technologies Inc.

Imagine that your office is located 250 feet in the air, perched atop a swaying tower. Your commute includes a vertical ladder climb, 300 rungs long. You’re wearing a harness, protective gear, and carrying tools ranging from wrenches to sophisticated optical measurement devices. Arriving in your place of work, you’re confronted with whirling machinery, loaded with thousands of pounds of mechanical torsion, and generating 2.5 MW of electricity.

This is the world of the wind turbine service technician – professionals that keep wind farms turning and renewable energy flowing.  Wind turbine techs are part mechanical engineer and part electrical troubleshooter. Part vibration sensor and part pack mule. Part rock climber and part archer (seriously, a bow and arrow sometimes come into play).

The skills and knowledge required to be a true “turbine whisperer” are a rare combination.  Given the growth of the wind farm industry, there is an increasing need for field techs, yet also a shortage of expertise. Plus, given the often-remote wind farm, the first off-shore wind farm in the US opened last year, getting experts to the turbines presents its own set of challenges.