The Ural Interregional Research and Education Center is carrying out groundbreaking developments in the field of robotics for the power industry. Thus, robots of the Kanatokhod family are already widely known, which, with the help of five machine vision systems, can detect a wide variety of defects in elements of overhead power lines being directly on the line. It helps prevent accidents in electrical power systems.
This year, Ural developers have demonstrated a new cutting-edge technology for robotic maintenance of power facilities. A technology has been created to prevent accidents associated with a hazardous natural phenomenon, i.e. ice buildup on wires and structures of overhead lines, frost, and wet snow. Phenomena like freezing rain usually lead to large-scale accidents and long-term power outages in regions from Moscow to the Far East.
‘The new technology lies in using special anti-icing coatings for wires and lightning protection cables of overhead lines,’ says Alexander Lemekh, head of the Laboratory of the Future at Ural Federal University. ‘A significant advantage of the robotic complex is the solution to the problem of electromagnetic compatibility, which helps work on high voltage lines without turning them off.’
The technology has been successfully tested at the facilities of Rosseti Urals in Sverdlovsk and Perm Regions. The Main Electric Networks of the Urals Company became interested in introducing the Laboratories of the Future technology to improve the reliability of power transmission lines with a voltage of 220 and 500 kV.