Autonomous UAV System for Cleaning Insulators in Power Line Inspection and Maintenance
The inspection and maintenance tasks of electrical installations are very demanding. Nowadays, insulator cleaning is carried out manually by operators using scaffolds, ropes, or even helicopters. However, these operations involve potential risks for humans and the electrical structure. The use of Un...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-12-01
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| Series: | Sensors |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/24/8488 |
| _version_ | 1797500624121626624 |
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| author | Ricardo Lopez Lopez Manuel Jesus Batista Sanchez Manuel Perez Jimenez Begoña C. Arrue Anibal Ollero |
| author_facet | Ricardo Lopez Lopez Manuel Jesus Batista Sanchez Manuel Perez Jimenez Begoña C. Arrue Anibal Ollero |
| author_sort | Ricardo Lopez Lopez |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The inspection and maintenance tasks of electrical installations are very demanding. Nowadays, insulator cleaning is carried out manually by operators using scaffolds, ropes, or even helicopters. However, these operations involve potential risks for humans and the electrical structure. The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) to reduce the risk of these tasks is rising. This paper presents an UAV to autonomously clean insulators on power lines. First, an insulator detection and tracking algorithm has been implemented to control the UAV in operation. Second, a cleaning tool has been designed consisting of a pump, a tank, and an arm to direct the flow of cleaning liquid. Third, a vision system has been developed that is capable of detecting soiled areas using a semantic segmentation neuronal network, calculating the trajectory for cleaning in the image plane, and generating arm trajectories to efficiently clean the insulator. Fourth, an autonomous system has been developed to land on a charging pad to charge the batteries and potentially fill the tank with cleaning liquid. Finally, the autonomous system has been validated in a controlled outdoor environment. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:06:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-295d4481669d4d50b833a22bf9542bb4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-8220 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:06:30Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sensors |
| spelling | doaj.art-295d4481669d4d50b833a22bf9542bb42023-11-23T10:32:12ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202021-12-012124848810.3390/s21248488Autonomous UAV System for Cleaning Insulators in Power Line Inspection and MaintenanceRicardo Lopez Lopez0Manuel Jesus Batista Sanchez1Manuel Perez Jimenez2Begoña C. Arrue3Anibal Ollero4GRVC Robotics Laboratory, University of Seville, Avenida de los Descubrimientos, S/N, 41092 Seville, SpainGRVC Robotics Laboratory, University of Seville, Avenida de los Descubrimientos, S/N, 41092 Seville, SpainGRVC Robotics Laboratory, University of Seville, Avenida de los Descubrimientos, S/N, 41092 Seville, SpainGRVC Robotics Laboratory, University of Seville, Avenida de los Descubrimientos, S/N, 41092 Seville, SpainGRVC Robotics Laboratory, University of Seville, Avenida de los Descubrimientos, S/N, 41092 Seville, SpainThe inspection and maintenance tasks of electrical installations are very demanding. Nowadays, insulator cleaning is carried out manually by operators using scaffolds, ropes, or even helicopters. However, these operations involve potential risks for humans and the electrical structure. The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) to reduce the risk of these tasks is rising. This paper presents an UAV to autonomously clean insulators on power lines. First, an insulator detection and tracking algorithm has been implemented to control the UAV in operation. Second, a cleaning tool has been designed consisting of a pump, a tank, and an arm to direct the flow of cleaning liquid. Third, a vision system has been developed that is capable of detecting soiled areas using a semantic segmentation neuronal network, calculating the trajectory for cleaning in the image plane, and generating arm trajectories to efficiently clean the insulator. Fourth, an autonomous system has been developed to land on a charging pad to charge the batteries and potentially fill the tank with cleaning liquid. Finally, the autonomous system has been validated in a controlled outdoor environment.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/24/8488UAVsinspection and maintenancemobile robotsinsulators |
| spellingShingle | Ricardo Lopez Lopez Manuel Jesus Batista Sanchez Manuel Perez Jimenez Begoña C. Arrue Anibal Ollero Autonomous UAV System for Cleaning Insulators in Power Line Inspection and Maintenance Sensors UAVs inspection and maintenance mobile robots insulators |
| title | Autonomous UAV System for Cleaning Insulators in Power Line Inspection and Maintenance |
| title_full | Autonomous UAV System for Cleaning Insulators in Power Line Inspection and Maintenance |
| title_fullStr | Autonomous UAV System for Cleaning Insulators in Power Line Inspection and Maintenance |
| title_full_unstemmed | Autonomous UAV System for Cleaning Insulators in Power Line Inspection and Maintenance |
| title_short | Autonomous UAV System for Cleaning Insulators in Power Line Inspection and Maintenance |
| title_sort | autonomous uav system for cleaning insulators in power line inspection and maintenance |
| topic | UAVs inspection and maintenance mobile robots insulators |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/24/8488 |
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