The Uptime Wind Energy Podcast
The Uptime Wind Energy Podcast
Allen Hall, Rosemary Barnes, Joel Saxum & Phil Totaro
TotalEnegies Floating Wind Anchor, Rope Management Tool
6 minutes Posted Jan 15, 2025 at 12:02 pm.
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We discuss a rope management tool for wind turbine maintenance, TotalEnergies' floating offshore wind anchor idea, and a stress relief device.



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This is Power Up, where groundbreaking wind energy ideas become your clean energy future. Here's your hosts, Allen Hall and Phil Totaro.



Allen Hall: Well, Phil, our first patent of the week is a clever, portable device for managing industrial ropes used in wind turbine maintenance. Now, the key to this innovation is a rope driver system that combines mechanical and electrical components to safely control wind energy.



Heavy duty ropes, and we know those can be kind of a pain to deal with. This device features a rope storage container with a hardened lower portion and a flexible top portion, along with a motorized driver mechanism that can both lift and lower ropes. And I'll think of it as a sophisticated wind system that not only moves the rope, but stores it properly, too.



Seems like a lot of good uses for this idea, Phil.



Phil Totaro: And when you consider that regardless of remote inspection technology, we still do end up dangling a lot of service techs off ropes in, in this industry. So, this is actually something that comes from seemingly independent inventors with no corporate affiliation.



And it's, there's a lot of patents like that that are usually just kind of crackpot things that, Is something that's never going to be adopted by the industry. This is something I hope they can find a way to commercialize or, find somebody that is interested in licensing this or acquiring the, the patent because this is actually Besides being kind of a clever and unique idea, I think this would actually come in handy in a lot of sites, because if you have multiple techs working on a blade repair up tower you can get techs.



Crossed ropes, and it creates a safety issue. So having proper storage really does come in handy and, and enhances safety of, of uptower workers.