“Power line inspection application automates the detection of network anomalies and high temperatures”
TECNALIA is developing new inspection technology based on drones and deep learning for the automation of the diagnosis and maintenance of energy infrastructure.
The inspection and maintenance of electrical infrastructure involves significant challenges for several reasons:
- It is hard to access areas that are out of reach or close to hostile environments
- Risk to operators and the operation of the installation itself
- Complexity of this infrastructure and its components, which hinders subsequent information management and decision-making
These limitations are a major barrier to the identification and accurate assessment of potential failure points, which would allow service interruptions to be anticipated.
Solutions in the field of infrastructure inspection and diagnostics
To meet this challenge, TECNALIA is working on the AZTERTUZ project to develop industrial solutions in the field of inspection and diagnosis of energy infrastructure; solutions based on drone systems, computer vision and deep learning, which allows it to optimise the inspection process, reduce inspection risks and improve the maintenance and conservation of critical elements.
An application is being developed in collaboration with I-DE for the inspection of power lines, which automates the detection of network anomalies and damaging high temperatures.
- It consists of a comprehensive solution, in which power lines are swept from the air using an autonomous drone.
- The drone, which incorporates imaging equipment, thermal imaging cameras and LiDAR technology, automatically detects visible defects and hot spots.
- From this information, based on deep-learning algorithms, we can determine regulatory distances and obtain a traceable record of the anomalies detected.
This not only reduces the exposure of people to hazardous areas, but also provides more complete and accurate data for decision making and eliminates the CO2 emissions of traditional methods, where helicopters are used for inspection.
