A Novel Method to Reconstruct Overhead High-Voltage Power Lines Using Cable Inspection Robot LiDAR Data

Abstract

Overhead high-voltage power lines are key components of power transmission and their monitoring has a very significant influence on security and reliability of power system. Advanced laser scanning techniques have been widely used to capture three-dimensional (3D) point clouds of power system scenes. Nevertheless, power line corridors are found in increasingly complex environments (e.g., mountains and forests), and the multi-loop structure on the same power line tower raises great challenges to process light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data. This paper addresses these challenges by constructing a new collection mode of LiDAR data for power lines using cable inspection robot (CIR). A novel method is proposed to extract and reconstruct power line using CIR LiDAR data, which has two advantages: (1) rapidly extracts power line point by position and orientation system (POS) extraction model; and (2) better solves pseudo-line during reconstruction of power line by structured partition. The proposed method mainly includes four steps: CIR LiDAR data generation, POS-based crude extraction, voxel-based accurate extraction and power line reconstruction. The feasibility and validity of the proposed method are verified by test site experiment and actual line experiment, demonstrating a fast and reliable solution to accurately reconstruct power line.

Do High-Voltage Power Transmission Lines Affect Forest Landscape and Vegetation Growth: Evidence from a Case for Southeastern of China

“…This indicates that the forest plantation was the most affected landscape type during and after the construction of HVPTL, whereas bamboo forests and non-forest lands were less affected by the construction of HVPTL. This is in line with a previous finding, which indicated that power lines inevitably cross more forests with the rapid development of the network grid [3]. This, in turn, increases forest fragmentation to a certain degree [7].…”

“…To meet the constantly growing electricity demands and to reduce electricity transmission losses, countries in Europe, North America, and Asia are attempting to develop high-voltage power transmission lines (HVPTLs) including pylons [1,2]. HVPTLs have become globally necessary components of power transmission infrastructure, covering 5.5 million km in 2014, with predictions that this will increase to 6.8 million km in 2020 [3]. Likewise, the development of HVPTL in China is expected to increase, to reduce electricity transmission energy losses, since long distances exist between power stations and end-users [4].…”

“…Remote sensing technology has been applied to monitor electric transmission infrastructures. For example, Qin et al [3] and Schmidt et al [13] used Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data and high-resolution aerial imagery to produce geospatial maps of electric power infrastructure, which are valuable for analysis, planning, and risk evaluation.…”

“…As airborne and aerospace remote sensors can quickly obtain a wide range of data from different altitudes, large scales, and multiple spectra, they have been extensively and successfully applied to meteorological observations, resource surveys, mapping, and military reconnaissance [20,21]. Satellite imagery has been successfully applied in HVPTL-related studies, such as high-resolution aerial imagery to classify electric power transmission lines [13] and LiDAR data to detect power line corridors [3]. The combination of high-resolution hyperspectral satellite images and LiDAR data was employed for vegetation management in HVPTL corridors [17], and satellite images have been combined with multimedia wireless sensor networks to improve the monitoring accuracy of vegetation.…”

Full-Scale Reconstruction for Transmission Line Galloping Curves Based on Attitudes Sensors

“…Recently, many monitoring sensors have been designed and put into actual test for transmission line galloping monitoring. The authors in [28] have developed a cable inspection robot to acquire light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data. Also, the authors in [24] have designed a wireless sensor module with smooth spherical structure shell, and it contains an inertial measurement unit and wireless communication components.…”