AES announced innovation competition for robotic inspection solutions

The AES Corporation announced an open innovation competition on Monday that invites submissions related to the development of unmanned solutions to the challenges of inspections conducted during extreme heat conditions in power plants.

The AES Unmanned Xtreme Heat Inspection Challenge, offered in partnership with NineSigma, seeks to identify new solutions for power plant inspections that can help to lower downtime during outages. When a system failure occurs, there can be extreme temperature conditions inside power plants. It can take up to 36 hours for temperatures to return to levels that are safe for human inspectors equipped with protective equipment. The work can be hazardous and the time spent waiting results in delays producing energy again. AES hopes to attract solutions that utilize drones and robotics solutions in order to reduce downtime and improve safety for power plant workers.

“AES takes our mission of improving lives seriously and recognizes that today’s energy solutions must evolve to meet tomorrow’s needs,” Andres Gluski, AES president and CEO said. “Engaging and collaborating with great thinkers outside our company and industry allows us to extend our internal innovation capabilities to create the best solutions for the future.”

AES is inviting submissions from other companies, consultants, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and inventors through February 28. Three winners will be selected, and will receive prizes at the AES’ Innovation Congress in July.