super-size drones built to clean turbines could save lives in the future

huge drones built to clean wind turbines could signal the future of human rescue methods. 28 motor quadcopters capable of lifting up to 400 pounds have been built by latvia-based start-up aerones who foresee the future of their endeavour amounting to much more than squeaky clean eco-propellas.

‘while working on the drone we have thought a lot about safety’, explains jānis putrāms, CEO of aerones. ‘there is no single point of failure which means any part of the drone is allowed to fail and we could still land safety. there are also many other applications for our drone. one is firefighting, another is human rescue and also many sports applications.’

all images courtesy of aerones

the drones operate with a tether that keeps them from drifting, while delivering power to the 28 on-board motors. unplugged, the drones can carry a payload for around 12 minutes.

aerones is currently testing the system on private locations and in countries without regulatory issues. the company’s plan is to offer a cleaning service rather than sell the product directly to consumer, allowing them to continue to develop the drone hardware and software.