The Design and Application of a Track-type Autonomous Inspection Robot for Electrical Distribution Room

Abstract

SummaryElectrical distribution equipment inspection is crucial for the electric power industry. With the rapid increase in the number of electrical distribution rooms, an unattended inspection method, for example, autonomous inspection robot, is eagerly desired by the industry to make up for the deficiencies of traditional manual inspection in effectiveness and validity. Existing inspection robots designed for indoor substations are generally lack of practicality, due to the factors such as inspection requirements and robot weight. To bridge the gap between prototype and practicality, in this work, we design the first completely autonomous robotic system, LongSword, which provides a satisfying technical solution for equipment inspection with an optical zoom camera, a thermal imaging camera or a partial discharge detector. Firstly, we design a novel and flexible hardware architecture which allows the robot to move, lift, and rotate in the station to reach any desired position. Secondly, we develop an intelligent software framework which consists of several modules to achieve accurate equipment recognition and reliable failure diagnosis. Thirdly, we achieve an apposite integration of the existing technologies to implement an applicable robotic system that can fulfill the requirements of indoor equipment inspection. There are over 200 LongSwords currently serving about 160 electrical distribution rooms, some of which have been working for more than 1 year. The average precision of device status recognition is up to 99.70%, and the average inspection time of a single device is as short as 13.5 s. The feedback from workers shows that LongSword can significantly improve the efficiency and reliability of equipment inspection, which accelerates the process of setting up unmanned stations.

A review of indoor-orbital electrical inspection robots in substations

“…Many scholars and engineers focus on intelligent inspection and the whole life cycle maintenance to avoid the substantial economic loss due to the failure of electrical equipment (Mendler et al , 2011). At present, inspection robots have been extensively used to monitor the electrical equipment and effectively prevent accidents in substations, which excessively promotes the development of unmanned substations due to the advantages of convenience, simplification, reliability and intelligence (Cheng and Xiang, 2019; Wang et al , 2012). Therefore, the research of electrical inspection robots (EIRs) has received considerable attention of many institutions and companies, which considerably accelerates the development and applications of EIRs in the intelligent maintenance of substations.…”

Position Identification Method of Isolation Switch for Prosumer Substation Based on Intelligent Image Recognition Technology

“…At present, some stations use image recognition, pressure sensing and other methods to assist in determining the position of the isolation switch, but the above-mentioned position monitoring methods still have many problems in terms of stability, accuracy and adaptability, such as the equipment installation of pressure sensing, deployment and replacement without power failure, and the wear and oxidize of micro switch contacts (Liu et al, 2018;Cai et al, 2017;Teng et al, 2019). Existing methods for monitoring the opening and closing positions of isolation switches have certain limitations (Cheng and Xiang, 2020). It will be the focus of future research to find new technical methods and means that can improve efficiency and safety to realize the accurate judgment of opening and closing positions.…”

Ontology Design and Development of Transmission Line in Inspection Robot

“…Power inspection robots are widely used to inspect the outdoor high-voltage equipment of unattended or less attended substations. By collecting the operation status information of power equipment, they can detect abnormal phenomena such as thermal defects and foreign matter suspension of power equipment to ensure the safety of power production [12,13]. At present, the navigation mode of the power inspection robot generally adopts magnetic track navigation, which is to install a magnetic track on the inspection route of the substation.…”