XUZHOU, China, Dec. 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — On December 10th, at the 220 kV "Jiulishan” substation in Xuzhou, Jiangsu, a small unmanned aerial vehicle was deployed to conduct independent inspections of indoor busbars, switchgear and other equipment in the station. Meanwhile, at the State Grid Xuzhou Power Supply Company’s substation operation and maintenance monitoring centre, located 8 kilometres away, staff are remotely checking the equipment’s operating status through a large screen to ensure the safe and reliable operation of the power grid.
As the winter period approaches, there has been an increase in the frequency of visits by substation operation and maintenance personnel to various substations for inspection purposes. As drone technology becomes more widely used, the inspection of outdoor equipment in substations is increasingly being replaced by automated processes. However, the inspection of indoor equipment is still predominantly conducted manually, resulting in suboptimal efficiency due to factors such as travel time and manual data entry.
In comparison to outdoor inspections, indoor inspections present a number of challenges, including weak satellite navigation signals, multiple blind spots in inspections and the need to optimise drone obstacle avoidance capabilities. In order to address these challenges, our company has prioritised technological research and actively promoted the development of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) full scene inspection demonstration zones.
State Grid Xuzhou Power Supply Company collects data through laser scanning, constructs a three-dimensional model of the substation, and formulates inspection routes for drones to avoid obstacles. In terms of upgrading the drone body, the company has equipped it with high-precision LiDAR and UWB positioning technology, which enables it to perform a range of functions including anti-collision protection, automatic inspection, real-time inspection report generation, and unmanned operation, effectively improving the timeliness and accuracy of equipment.
"As an example, the 220 kV ‘Jiulishan’ substation can be inspected by drone in 40 minutes, covering more than 500 locations indoors and outdoors. This is three times more efficient than manual inspection," the head of State Grid Xuzhou Power Supply Company’s drone inspection center Wang Rizhao said.
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