Message posted on
4 August 2025 by HIVE
At the end of July, the Autonomous Robot for Blade Inspections—ARBI for short—“landed” at the HIVE Living Lab – Hangar of the Future. The robot is an innovation being developed by the Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR) on behalf of the Royal Netherlands Air Force’s Air Support Command (ASC).
Vermeer Industrial Movements transported the robot from Woensdrecht Air Base to its new location at Aviolanda Business Park, where the experimental hangar of the future is located. The ASC and NLR project team oversaw the move and installed the system at its new location.
The ARBI automates inspections of helicopter rotor blades using thermography, shearography, and artificial intelligence (AI). These inspections are currently performed manually by tapping on the blades. This is a labor-intensive and time-consuming task. At a time when more work needs to be done with fewer people, significant gains can be achieved through automation and robotization. Incidentally, the ARBI’s potential applications extend far beyond the automatic inspection of rotor blades. It is a promising innovation. In the coming period, the next phases of the project will be carried out in the Living Lab at Business Park Aviolanda.
HIVE Living Lab – Hangar of the Future is a collaboration between the Royal Netherlands Aerospace Center (NLR), Fokker Services Group, the Royal Netherlands Air Force’s Air Support Command, and Aviolanda Business Park. It is a great example of how our cluster aims to accelerate innovation through synergy, with a focus on applications for both civil and military aviation maintenance. The lab launched on May 15, 2025, with its first innovation project: Smart Assisted Towing.
At HIVE, we’re always on the lookout for new technologies and techniques that can be applied in aerospace MRO. Interested in bringing an innovation project to us? Then please contact us.
Ga snel naar
