Unmanned drones could deploy in the fight against outages

By Jeff Postelwait
Online Editor

Maybe this is just the viewpoint of an American who grew up on "Terminator" movies, but I still find it incredibly weird and interesting that we live in a world where robots patrol the skies. Apparently the Electric Power Research Institute still thinks robots are cool too because they're researching ways for the technology to help out the electric power industry.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, or drones, of the same category of the Hellfire-carrying Predator, deployed around the world by the United States Armed Forces, could potentially be used by utilities to check on the status of distribution systems, according to an EPRI study. Instead of sporting Hellfire missiles, though, these units could carry cameras, sensors and global positioning capability.



It's easy to see why an all-seeing eye that can fly to a remote area and report data back to its operators might be of good use to an industry that frequently deals with icy roads, downed trees and other hazards at the very same time when the need for good communications has never been higher.

EPRI decided to take that idea and run with it with a series of tests of different types of UAVs at the New Mexico State University Flight Test Center, which is just a short distance away from the White Sands Missile Range in south-central New Mexico. These aircraft carried high-resolution video cameras and transmitted images of power lines from a useful distance of 7,000 feet in the air.

Footage shot like this could provide timely information to grid operators and their field crews, allowing them to better prioritize their outage restoration efforts and get accurate information sent off to affected customers.

"The tests indicated that unmanned airborne technologies equipped with sensors, cameras and GPS could be deployed quickly, allowing utilities to evaluate large areas more quickly than ground-based crews, then develop a repair strategy and mobilize repair crews more quickly and effectively," according to EPRI.

EPRI is also taking a look at the capabilities of drones for the inspection and assessment of overhead transmission lines. To make sure these findings are more practical for the utilities, EPRI is gathering data on UAV functional requirements, costs, inspection technologies, as well as testing several different types of UAVs.

Other sectors have taken a look at UAVs before, including the oil and gas industry, firefighting departments, meteorologists, forestry services and others. Still, I think that for utilities that have the resources to put these drones in the sky, it could dramatically boost response time — and utilities know that when customers are in the dark, every second counts.

Thinking about boxes, robots and endless possibilities

We all know that old saying about thinking outside the box. We're supposed to do it. We're supposed to be the only people doing it. People tell us to do it, but do they really mean it? Now, I tend to joke that even the people who use that phrase don't actually want "outside the box" thinking. Not really. Not truly. Instead, they simply want you to paint the same old box a different, shiny color. That's what they mean by all those boxy thoughts.

This week, I spent some time in a very hot and very humid San Antonio preparing for our upcoming Utility Products Conference and Exposition and doing some thinking that's all about a box---well, a box-shaped robot, anyway. I made a special trip to South Texas to discuss details about hanging the Electric Power Research Institute's (EPRI's) transmission robot, Ti, at the show. (More info on Ti can be found by clicking here.)

Ti really is a bit of compact dramatic irony. It's outside-the-box thinking shaped into a very boxy package---a very boxy and very heavy package. It's new cutting edge transmission research wrapped in what we've always traditionally label as an old-fashioned, out-dated concept---that dreaded box. In this case, the box is neither old-fashioned nor out-dated. Instead, it truly represents the newest options for technology in our field. And we are delighted to get to show it off to all of you at the upcoming show.

This week, with the great help of Tom from EPRI's partner Southwest Research, we had some unique thinking about how to properly display and show off that cutting edge box. (Southwest Research helped bring Ti to life, and they're local to the San Antonio area. So, it's great to have them in the mix for logistics.)

Ti will be moving and grooving across the ceiling of the combined DistribuTECH and Utility Products Conf. and Expo exhibit floor Jan. 24, 25 and 26, 2012. Zipping along nearly 90 feet of cable above the heads of show attendees, Ti is poised to be a center attraction at the event, and, with each step closer to the January show, I grow more excited about these robots. (Yep, there will be more than just Ti.)

I hope you guys are equally excited. For more information on the robots and other Utility Products Conf. and Expo attractions, click here.

Speaking of outside-the-box thinking, Davy Crocket is quoted all over the San Antonio area for famously saying "You may all go to hell, and I will go to Texas" to his Tennessee political opponents (and then President Andrew Jackson, whose policies he truly hated) before giving his life in a showdown at the Alamo. Perhaps Texas wasn't the best choice for Davy, but it is a great choice for you this coming January. With Ti in the mix, we'll bring outside-the-box thinking directly to the town that lured Crockett.

And, unlike Davy, you can visit the Alamo without planning for a military onslaught this January---though I might suggest prepping for an onslaught of information, data and friendly little robots.