UAV Imaging and Inspection

Power line inspections fall into the category of “infrastructure monitoring”. These types of inspections are expensive, time-consuming, have a high repeat rate, and comply with the legislation that mandates them.

The most widely used inspection method is the one performed by manned helicopters and in specific areas with inspection by ATVs or on foot. But expensive helicopter operation is noisy and ecologically unsustainable.

SPI can complete these tasks faster, safer, and cheaper, and these inspections are repeatable with GPS mapping, giving you historical data every year from exactly the same perspectives.

What kind of data needs to be taken during inspections?

The most frequent uses in inspections are those related to the management of assets of the infrastructure itself and to the monitoring of the service area around the power line;

  1. Thermal inspections (photography or video) of the catenary (cable network or stay), towers, insulators, and spacers with the support of algorithms for the automated extraction of information;
  2. Multispectral inspections, to detect changes and the state of nearby vegetation (encroachment), especially in areas of difficult access, detecting the distance between the lines and the vegetation;
  3. Previous and evolutionary cartography in the construction of new lines;
  4. Emergency monitoring; and
  5. Routine flights to monitor wire sag damage to infrastructure, and vegetation growth.