The climbing performance analysis of a robot for power line inspection with retractable double serial manipulators

Author(s):  
Xiaopeng Li ◽  
Dongyang Shang ◽  
Fanjie Li ◽  
Renzhen Chen

A power line inspection robot has to overcome many kinds of obstacles in inspection processes. The strain clamp is the obstacles difficult for inspection robots to overcome. The inspection robot needs to have a particular climbing ability to overcome the strain clamp. Therefore, the ability to climb power lines is the key point of the inspection robot’s design. An inspection robot with retractable double serial manipulators is proposed to improve the climbing and obstacle-crossing ability. Besides, this paper shows that the inspection robot is more suitable for climbing from static analysis and dynamic evaluation index. Firstly, the obstacle-crossing processes and structures of the inspection robot are introduced. Next, the static analysis is carried out when inspection robot climbs the power lines. The static analysis shows that the new inspection robot has a smaller driving torque. What’s more, the dynamic model of the inspection robot is established by Lagrange’s dynamical equations. By constructing the dynamic evaluation indexes, the inspection robot with retractable arms performs better dynamic characteristics. Finally, a prototype robot is carried out to cross obstacles and climb up power lines. The results show that the inspection robot can overcome different obstacles and has a good climbing performance.

Author(s):  
Yishuang Wang ◽  
Chao Yuan ◽  
Yongjie Zhai

The requirements of power system for the safety of overhead transmission lines are increasing. With the rapid development of mobile robot technology, the inspection of overhead transmission lines by inspection robots has become a research hotspot in recent years. Aiming at the task requirements of transmission line inspection robots and the environmental characteristics of transmission lines, researchers at home and abroad have developed a variety of inspection robots. However, most of these robots have problems such as inability to cross the strain tower, low obstacle crossing efficiency and poor safety. In order to solve the above problems, this paper proposes a new four-arm inspection robot mechanism. The robot can cross the strain tower with two different sets of arms working together. The rectangular frame structure on the walking arm improves the obstacle crossing efficiency of the robot, and the closed hanging mechanism ensures that the robot does not fall from the line. In this paper, the three-dimensional model of the robot is established, and the specific structure and motion parameters are given. Three typical obstacle-crossing modes are planned, and the motion analysis and force simulation analysis of the robot's obstacle-crossing process are carried out. The simulation result shows that the mechanism can efficiently cross the strain towers and common obstacles on the transmission line.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmad Bala Alhassan ◽  
Xiaodong Zhang ◽  
Haiming Shen ◽  
Guo Jian ◽  
Haibo Xu ◽  
...  

To efficiently transmit electric power to consumers, the power lines need to be inspected routinely for early fault detection. Thus, power line inspection robots are designed to replace the tedious and dangerous manual inspection using linemen or helicopters. However, most of the existing inspection robots are heavy, which make them slow and prone to external wind disturbance. This paper developed a lightweight dual-arm robot and investigates its robustness to wind disturbance on a lab-scale power line structure. The dynamic equations of the robot are derived using the Lagrangian equation for appropriate motor selection. Also, the components of the robot are designed to ensure low drag coefficient to wind flow, and the mechanism of the wind force on the robot-line coupled system is presented. To study the real-time impact of the wind, a wind speed of 4.5 m/s representing one of the windiest cities in China is considered as a case study. The experimental results for different wind directions, namely, 0°, 45°, and 90°, show that the maximum vibration is 8% higher than the normal vibration of the system in a controlled environment without wind. The results demonstrate that there is little influence of the wind on the system; hence, the robot has been successfully designed and can be applied for power line inspection.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (13) ◽  
pp. 3855
Author(s):  
Arturo Popoli ◽  
Leonardo Sandrolini ◽  
Andrea Cristofolini

In this paper, a strategy for reducing the electromagnetic interferences induced by power lines on metallic pipelines is proposed and numerically investigated. The study considers a set of steel conductors interposed between the power line and the pipeline. Different shapes of conductor cross sections and different magnetic permeabilities are considered, to identify the solution exhibiting the greatest mitigation efficiency for the same amount of material. The investigation is carried out by means of a quasi-3D finite element analysis. Results show that the main mechanism responsible for the mitigation is constituted by the currents induced in the screening conductors by the power line. Hence, a high magnetic permeability can have a detrimental effect since it reduces the skin depth to values below the size of the screening conductor. In this case, a reduction of the screening current and in the mitigation efficiency is observed. Nevertheless, the study shows that the use of strip-shaped screening conductors allows the employment of cheaper magnetic materials without compromising the mitigation efficacy of the screening conductors.


Risk Analysis ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (12) ◽  
pp. 2276-2288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jarry T. Porsius ◽  
Liesbeth Claassen ◽  
Fred Woudenberg ◽  
Tjabe Smid ◽  
Danielle R. M. Timmermans
Keyword(s):  

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 492
Author(s):  
Levente Rácz ◽  
Bálint Németh

Exceeding the electric field’s limit value is not allowed in the vicinity of high-voltage power lines because of both legal and safety aspects. The design parameters of the line must be chosen so that such cases do not occur. However, analysis of several operating power lines in Europe found that the electric field strength in many cases exceeds the legally prescribed limit for the general public. To illustrate this issue and its importance, field measurement and finite element simulation results of the low-frequency electric field are presented for an active 400 kV power line. The purpose of this paper is to offer a new, economical expert system based on dynamic line rating (DLR) that utilizes the potential of real-time power line monitoring methods. The article describes the expert system’s strengths and benefits from both technical and financial points of view, highlighting DLR’s potential for application. With our proposed expert system, it is possible to increase a power line’s safety and security by ensuring that the electric field does not exceed its limit value. In this way, the authors demonstrate that DLR has other potential applications in addition to its capacity-increasing effect in the high voltage grid.


Oryx ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Teresa Marques ◽  
Ricardo C. Martins ◽  
João Paulo Silva ◽  
Jorge M. Palmeirim ◽  
Francisco Moreira

Abstract Collision with power lines is a major cause of mortality for many bird species. Understanding the biotic and abiotic factors that increase collision risk is therefore important for implementing mitigation measures to minimize mortality, such as power line rerouting or wire marking. Here, we used collision events registered during 2003–2015 along 280 km of transmission power lines in southern Portugal to analyse spatio-temporal patterns and collision risk factors in two sympatric, threatened, and collision-prone species: the great bustard Otis tarda and the little bustard Tetrax tetrax. The occurrence of collisions was not uniform across space and time, and variations could be explained by the species' ecological requirements, distribution patterns and behaviour. Although both species fly considerable distances between areas of suitable habitat, collisions were far more likely in power line sections with > 20% (for the little bustard) or > 50% (for the great bustard) of open farmland habitat in the surroundings. Power line configuration was also important: taller pylons and those with a higher number of wire levels posed a higher risk for both species. Wire marking had a small but significant effect for the little bustard, reducing collisions risk. There was, however, no similar effect for the great bustard, possibly a result of limited data. Mitigation measures should be implemented to prevent bustard collisions, including adequate route planning, ideally avoiding areas with > 20% of open habitat. Line configuration and wire marking are particularly important where such localities cannot be avoided and power lines cross areas with a high proportion of bustard habitat, including outside protected areas.


2013 ◽  
Vol 655-657 ◽  
pp. 1053-1056 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Shanmugasundar ◽  
R. Sivaramakrishnan ◽  
S. Venugopal

Every robot is developed for a specific task. To ensure the performance of the Robot before it has implemented to practical application it has to be analyzed using software to avoid unwanted wastage of time and capital. This paper presents the design characteristics and static analysis of the seven degree of freedom articulated inspection robot in nuclear environment. CATIA software is utilized to design the mechanical configuration. To validate the design to be safe, ANSYS software is utilized to perform stress and deflection analysis.


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