Challenges in UAS Platform design for Transmission Line monitoring and Inspections

Power line inspections are essential to maintain safety and reliability of power grids. Transmission lines in many locations are difficult to access, making aerial inspections the only practical means for assessing line conditions. Although various commercial drones target this application, not enough is known about the methods implemented to overcome challenges of flying near transmission lines. This paper discusses the developments of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) for transmission line inspections. It considers several practical challenges in the real implementation of such a system, such as EMI. Furthermore, a practical FEA model for simulating the magnetic field of a single phase and three phase line is developed in Ansys Maxwell. A drone testbed prototype is designed using commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components based on a PX4 controller and the Ardupilot platform, to serve as a testbed for both assessing the challenges and testing solutions.