A Multiple Sensors Platform Method for Power Line Inspection Based on a Large Unmanned Helicopter

Many theoretical and experimental studies have been carried out in order to improve the efficiency and reduce labor for power line inspection, but problems related to stability, efficiency, and comprehensiveness still exist. This paper presents a multiple sensors platform method for overhead power line inspection based on the use of a large unmanned helicopter. Compared with the existing methods, multiple sensors can realize synchronized inspection on all power line components and surrounding objects within one sortie. Flight safety of unmanned helicopter, scheduling of sensors and exact tracking on power line components are very important aspects when using the proposed multiple sensors platform, therefore this paper introduces in detail the planning method for the flight path of the unmanned helicopter and tasks of the sensors before inspecting power lines, and the method used for tracking power lines and insulators automatically during the inspection process. To validate the method, experiments on a transmission line at Qingyuan in Guangdong Province were carried out, the results show that the proposed method is effective for power line inspection.