Ping takes turbine ‘stethoscope’ into commercial production

The Ping Monitor is attached to the tower and uses complex algorithms to monitor the acoustic signature of turbine blades to detect damage or flaws, automatically alerting operators to its findings.

The product is the brainchild of Stead and fellow acoustician Jon Cooper, and has been in development since February 2018.

It was supported by a Research, Commercialisation and Startup Fund (FCSF) from the South Australia state government. Ping also raised AUS$1.3 million in a seed-funding round.

First-generation Ping Monitor units have been deployed at a number of wind farms in Australia and other markets.

“Until today we have been working with our customers at a bespoke level,” said Stead.

“With the second generation Ping Monitor we are ready to manufacture and export at commercial scale. If we got an order for 1,000 second-gen Ping Monitors tomorrow, we could fill it.”