Custom robot tightens fasteners inside 1GW utility-scale generator

SKA Robotics developed a custom robot for Siemens Energy's generator maintenance team in just four months. Throughout the project, SKA provided weekly updates and addressed all questions, delivering a fully operational system with comprehensive documentation.

The robot is designed to tighten fasteners inside 1-gigawatt utility-scale generators while navigating the air gap between the rotor and stator. This eliminates the need to disassemble the generator, allowing Siemens Energy to service 1,500 to 2,500 fasteners with minimal downtime.

By reducing maintenance time by three days per deployment, the system increases uptime and delivers an estimated $1.73 million in savings per deployment.

“To disassemble the generator for an inspection is a very costly evolution,” SKA Robotics said. “It's time involved, it's heavy weight and it takes several shifts of work during the maintenance cycle. If you can avoid that and do the same inspection with a robot, now you've added value to the customer. They can get back online [quicker] and have the same insurances about the condition of their machine.

“It's like you're buying an option: if I can inspect first if I have a problem, then I'll disassemble and take care of it. But if there isn’t a problem, now I've gained three days on my schedule and I'm back up and running.”

This rapid development showcases SKA Robotics’ expertise in agile robotics development, delivering a deployable, high-impact system on an accelerated timeline.

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