With the rapid development of China's national economy and industrial construction, the capacity and distance of power transmission have also grown rapidly. With the operation of large capacity and long-distance transmission lines, the transmission voltage has also increased, and the requirements for line safety have become increasingly high. The on-site environment of long-distance transmission lines is often harsh, and traffic and communication are often restricted. Traditional manual line inspection methods are also inefficient and pose personal safety risks. Introducing new safe and efficient intelligent inspection systems has become a trend. The power grid operation and maintenance business, as the core business of the company, is divided into four categories: helicopter inspection, live maintenance, live water flushing, and laser scanning operations.
At present, the power grid operation and maintenance business is mainly focused on helicopter and drone power inspection. Among them, helicopter inspection refers to the inspection and recording of power transmission lines by helicopters using visible light detectors and infrared thermal imagers equipped with gyroscopic stabilization systems. This operation method has the characteristics of high speed, efficiency, and minimal influence from regions and terrain. The infrared/ultraviolet imaging function and temperature measurement function are the core functions of optoelectronic pods for power line inspection. Visible light mainly checks the operation status of tower foundations, wires, insulators and other components, as well as faults such as plants, foreign object entanglement, geographical environment changes, cross crossing, line damage, broken strands, and loose crimping wires in the line corridor. It mainly replaces the tower inspection items and discharge gap inspection items of personnel replacing the line. The infrared imager mainly takes photos of wire connectors, tension tubes, jumper clamps, grounding wire clamps, fittings, insulators, etc. on the line, and discovers temperature anomalies, mainly replacing the periodic infrared testing items on the ground of the line.
At present, helicopters equipped with optoelectronic pods can efficiently collect and process visible light images and infrared thermal imaging data, achieving good inspection and detection results. They are most suitable for patrolling long-distance, large-span, and harsh terrain transmission lines. In addition, helicopters can also carry maintenance personnel for live work.