Multi-Aerial Robotic System for Power Line Inspection and Maintenance: Comparative Analysis From the AERIAL-CORE Final Experiments

This article shows how different types of novel aerial robots with new functionalities can cooperate in the inspection and maintenance (I&M) of power lines, one of the largest and most essential civil infrastructures in any country. This study relies on the results from the AERIAL-CORE research and innovation project. The article describes an I&M validation scenario and evaluation metrics for three linked operation domains: 1) long-range inspection for the detection of possible damages on power lines in a poststorm scenario; 2) aerial manipulation for the installation of devices on power lines; and 3) aerial co-working to help human operators in their activities at height. It presents the demonstration of ten different aerial robots in a real scenario with 10 km of power lines. The platforms include morphing-wing and vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), multirotors, and aerial manipulators. These platforms, custom-developed or commercially available, are evaluated in the three application domains, describing the new functionalities implemented for each case. The article ends with guidelines, design principles, and lessons learned for future developments derived from the final demonstration of the project.INDEX TERMS Aerial robotic co-working, aerial robotic manipulation, aerial robotics, inspection and maintenance (I&M), morphing, multi-UAVs, power lines, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).