A new company is coming to UND's Tech Accelerator that will test the use of unmanned aerial vehicles to examine wind turbine blades.
EdgeData, a Grand Forks-based startup company, was awarded a $450,000 Research ND grant they will match to partner with internationally known LM Wind Power on the two-year project.
Tech Accelerator Director Kevan Rusk said most turbines are currently inspected by two-man teams that repel down the blades and hang from a harness to take pictures. UAVs provide a safer and more thorough alternative with the ability to scan the blades with infrared and hyperspectral cameras.
"We will be able to get much more high-quality imagery and won't necessarily be limited to digital photo and video," Rusk said.
The Tech Accelerator, formerly known as REAC or REAC 1, was part of former UND President Charles Kupchella's vision. After the school leased the land for the 50,000-square-foot facility, it opened in 2009 and was meant to provide lab and office space for research companies.
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In 2006, former UND Vice President for Research Peter Alfonso estimated the center would create 150 high-paying jobs over five years but after years of struggling to attract tenants, the Tech Accelerator was acquired by UND in September 2013.
Lawmakers scrutinized the building's $9.8 million purchase from the UND Research Foundation, asking whether UND essentially negotiated with itself and State Board of Higher Education Interim Chancellor Larry Skogen eventually apologized for the handling of the sale in February 2014.
Onward and upward
Moving forward from the controversy, the Tech Accelerator had two companies move in last summer and saw a name change in October 2014.
EdgeData will focus on analyzing the large amount of data collected by various UAV sensors. Jeff Thorsteinson, chief security officer of a company EdgeData regularly partners with called Involta, said the goal is to educate people about the ways UAV technology can be utilized in a variety of fields.
Thorsteinson was instrumental in building the partnership with UND. He said the unmanned systems culture, with an Unmanned Aerial Systems Tech Park slated for construction near Grand Forks Air Force Base and a common knowledge of UAV use in the area, was a big draw.
"The community of Grand Forks is a big part of why there's a center of practice for unmanned systems," he said.
Rusk said the building is will be 62 percent full with EdgeData moving in soon from its virtual office in UND's Center for Innovation and the medical research company Next Healthcare vacating the accelerator for an office in Fargo during the winter.
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EdgeData will have access to a two-story interior lab space for indoor UAV test flights and has a tentative start date of June 1.
"With the tech accelerator we can test images we pull down, we can test lighting, angles or distance from a blade and then take various samples and either auto diagnose those or learn how to auto diagnose those," Thorsteinson said.
Students will also have the opportunity to get involved with the project through internships, Thorsteinson said.
"We have problems that need to be solved that don't necessarily take anything but hard work and determination," he said. "Not everything is 'E=MC2' on this. Working with UND not only gives a community of practice where we have folks who can solve little problems ... but they also have people and resources to help us build."
Rusk said after the two-year contract is up, EdgeData will have the opportunity to stay in the building.
"There are lots of connections and lots of potential," Rusk said. "It's a bit open-ended and frankly quite exciting."
