Inside Unmanned Systems provides actionable business intelligence to decision-makers and influencers operating within the global UAS community. Features include analysis of key technologies, policy/regulatory developments and new product design.
Issue link: https://insideunmanned.epubxp.com/i/643419
20 unmanned systems inside January/February 2016 AIR UTILITIES Photo courtesy of EPRI How the power grid works The power grid is a complex network of power plants and transformers connected by more than 450,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines. Electric power is generated at power plants and then moved by transmission lines to substations. A local distribution system of smaller, lower-voltage transmission lines moves power from substations to the customers. Source: energy.gov etation is growing and predict how long before it encroaches on the right of way. "If you look at the drones on the market, a lot of them have a regular camera and some have an infrared camera," Vukojevic said. "Very few have LIDAR, multispectral and photogram- metry. We wanted to know if we use these ad- vanced cameras and analytical tools, how much more can we get out of this? Not only did we get what we were looking for, they also enable us to do all kinds of 'what if' scenarios." A Growing Interest Duke Energy is one of many utility companies AeroVironment has worked with, and they're all interested in what kind of information the platform maker can deliver, said Steve Gitlin, AeroVironment's vice president for marketing strategy, communications and investor rela- tions. They want to know when they should use it and when they shouldn't. They want to create 3D models and compare them over time, which is key to quickly, effectively and safely perform- ing power line maintenance as well as reacting during emergency situations. Phil Buchan of Cyberhawk agrees, and said it's important for UAS manufacturers to pro- vide utility clients with an end-to-end solution. The team at Cyberhawk sits down with custom- ers from the beginning to define their goals and develop that solution. After the UAS collects the data the company needs, it gets fed into iHawk, the company's as- set management software. "We're not giving them thousands of raw pho- tos. We're giving them asset management in- formation," Commercial Director Buchan said. "We're giving them an analysis of those images so they can quickly and effectively make deci- sions about those assets." And UAS technology is already changing the way some of Cyberhawk's clients perform inspections, Buchan said. Many have already reduced the use of manned helicopters in fa- vor of UAS, while others have fewer engineers climbing or walking around towers to perform inspections. The engineers are not only safer but also freed for tasks such as repairing some of the problems the UAS finds. "There will definitely be more utility com- panies using UAS in the future," Buchan said. "Every customer we speak to is delighted with the results and wants to increase the scope of what we're doing." In the end, it all comes down to whether the technology can improve safety, operations and costs, said Andrew Phillips, who directs the