This report details test and measurement flights to demonstrate autonomous UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) inspection of high-voltage electrical transmission structures. A UAV built with commercial, off-the-shelf hardware and software, supplemented with custom sensors and logging software, measured ultraviolet (UV) emissions from a test generator placed on a low-altitude substation and a medium-altitude switching tower. Since corona discharge precedes catastrophic electrical faults on high-voltage structures, detection and geolocation of ultraviolet emissions is needed to develop a UAV-based self-diagnosing power grid. Signal readings from an onboard ultraviolet sensor were validated during flight with a commercial corona camera. Geolocation was accomplished with onboard GPS; the UAV position was logged to a local ground station and transmitted in real time to a NASA server for tracking in the national airspace. The method has practicality and relevance but not adequacy; either improved UAV position determination technology or increased sensor range is needed to enable broad deployment of this method.


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    Title :

    Autonomous Inspection of Electrical Transmission Structures with Airborne UV Sensors and Automated Air Traffic Management


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    AIAA SciTech Forum & Exposition (SciTech 2018) ; 2018 ; Kissimmee, FL, United States


    Publication date :

    2018-01-08


    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English





    Autonomous Inspection of Electrical Transmission Structures with Airborne UV Sensors and Automated Air Traffic Management (AIAA 2018-1628)

    Moore, Andrew / Schubert, Matthew / Rymer, Nicholas | British Library Conference Proceedings | 2018



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