Power distribution equipment inspection device

Abstract

A power distribution equipment inspection device includes: an infrared camera with an infrared image sensor, a first communication unit, and a control circuit coupled to the infrared image sensor and the first communication unit, the control circuit having a first memory for storing multiple frames of infrared images; and an image processing module with a control unit and a second communication unit coupled to the control unit, a second memory, a power distribution equipment identification module, and a hotspot detection module. The second communication unit is used to receive the infrared images coupled to the first communication unit, and the second memory is used to store at least one frame of the infrared image. The control unit drives the power distribution equipment identification module to perform an identification operation on each frame of the infrared image to define a local area corresponding to any power distribution equipment in each frame of the infrared image, and drives the hotspot detection module to perform an overheating detection operation on the local area to mark the local area as a hotspot when the temperature of the local area exceeds a threshold, thereby identifying an overheated power distribution equipment.

Description

Power distribution equipment inspection device Technical Field

[0001] This work relates to an automatic inspection scheme for power distribution equipment. Prior Technology

[0002] To provide good power quality, Taiwan Power Company must regularly inspect and maintain the power distribution equipment in various locations.

[0003] However, due to the large number of power distribution equipment in Taiwan Power Company's system, manually inspecting each one is inefficient. Often, problems are only discovered after public reports of equipment malfunctions. Therefore, the ability to detect and promptly resolve issues before equipment failures occur has become a crucial challenge.

[0004] To address the aforementioned issues, a novel inspection solution for power distribution equipment is urgently needed in this field. Summary of the Invention

[0005] One of the purposes of this invention is to provide an automatic inspection solution for power distribution equipment, which can automatically identify overheated power distribution equipment by capturing infrared images of outdoor power facilities along a predetermined path and performing an identification operation and an overheating judgment operation on the captured infrared images.

[0006] Another objective of this invention is to provide an automatic inspection solution for power distribution equipment, which can transmit the coordinates of overheated power distribution equipment to the control center of the maintenance unit to facilitate maintenance personnel in repairing the overheated power distribution equipment.

[0007] To achieve the aforementioned objectives, a power distribution equipment inspection device is proposed, which has: An infrared camera includes an infrared image sensor, a first communication unit, and a control circuit coupled to the infrared image sensor and the first communication unit. The control circuit has a first memory for storing multiple frames of infrared images. An image processing module includes a control unit and a second communication unit coupled to the control unit, a second memory, a power distribution equipment identification module, and a hotspot detection module. The second communication unit is used to be coupled to the first communication unit to receive the infrared image. The second memory is used to store at least one frame of the infrared image. The control unit drives the power distribution equipment identification module to perform an identification operation on each frame of the infrared image to define a local area corresponding to any power distribution equipment in each frame of the infrared image, and drives the hotspot detection module to perform an overheating detection operation on the local area to mark the local area as a hotspot when the temperature of the local area exceeds a threshold, thereby identifying an overheated power distribution equipment.

[0008] In one embodiment, the second communication unit transmits the coordinates of the hotspot to an external device wirelessly.

[0009] In one embodiment, the power distribution equipment identification module has an artificial intelligence module to perform the identification operation.

[0010] In one embodiment, the overheating determination operation includes: performing a thermal radiation signal to RGB conversion operation on the local area to generate a set of RGB data; performing an RGB to hue conversion operation on the set of RGB data to generate a set of hue data; and marking the local area as the hot spot if there are any values ​​in the set of hue data that exceed the threshold.

[0011] In one embodiment, the overheating determination operation further includes: converting the hue data into temperature values ​​using a linear interpolation operation to quickly identify hot spots exceeding the threshold, wherein the linear interpolation operation can be expressed as: T=b1+(s-a1)(b2-b1) / (a2-a1), where T represents the temperature value, b1 represents a preset minimum temperature, b2 represents a preset maximum temperature, s represents the value of the hue data, a1 represents a preset minimum hue value, and a2 represents a preset maximum hue value.

[0012] To enable your review committee to further understand the structure, features and purpose of this work, detailed descriptions of the diagrams and preferred embodiments are attached below. Simple Explanation of the Diagram

[0013] Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of the power distribution equipment inspection device of this invention; Figure 2 shows a result image obtained by photographing outdoor power facilities using the power distribution equipment inspection device shown in Figure 1; and Figure 3 illustrates one of the flowcharts for the power distribution equipment inspection operation in this work. Implementation

[0014] Please refer to Figure 1, which shows a block diagram of one embodiment of the power distribution equipment inspection device of this invention. As shown in Figure 1, a power distribution equipment inspection device 100 includes an infrared camera 110 and an image processing module 120.

[0015] The infrared camera 110 has an infrared image sensor 111, a first communication unit 112 and a control circuit 113 coupled to the infrared image sensor 111 and the first communication unit 112. The control circuit 113 has a first memory 113a to store multiple frames of infrared images.

[0016] The image processing module 120 includes a control unit 121 and a second communication unit 122, a second memory 123, a power distribution equipment identification module 124, and a hotspot detection module 125 coupled to the control unit 121. The second communication unit 122 is coupled to a first communication unit 112 to receive the infrared image. The second memory 123 is used to store at least one frame of the infrared image. The control unit 121 drives the power distribution equipment identification module 124 to perform an identification operation on each frame of the infrared image to define a local area corresponding to any power distribution equipment in each frame of the infrared image, and drives the hotspot detection module 125 to perform an overheating detection operation on the local area to mark the local area as a hotspot when the temperature of the local area exceeds a threshold, thereby finding an overheated power distribution equipment.

[0017] In addition, the second communication unit 122 transmits the coordinates of the hotspot to an external device 200 via a network 10 in a wireless communication manner. The external device 200 can be a control center of a maintenance unit to facilitate the notification of maintenance personnel to repair the overheated power distribution equipment.

[0018] In addition, the power distribution equipment identification module 124 may have an artificial intelligence module to perform the identification operation.

[0019] Additionally, it is worth mentioning that the overheating determination operation may include: performing a thermal radiation signal to RGB conversion operation on the local area to generate a set of RGB data; performing an RGB to hue conversion operation on the set of RGB data to generate a set of hue data; and marking the local area as the hot spot if there are any data exceeding the threshold in the set of hue data.

[0020] In this thermal radiation signal to RGB conversion, the RGB data is generated using a pseudo-color method, where red represents a higher temperature than green, green represents a higher temperature than blue, and so on. Furthermore, because the RGB data may deviate in certain situations, such as when electrical equipment is covered by shadows, this invention converts the RGB data into hue in the HSV (hue, saturation, value) color space. Since RGB to HSV conversion is a common operation, it will not be elaborated upon here.

[0021] Next, this invention can use a linear interpolation operation to convert the value of the hue data into a temperature value, thereby quickly finding the hotspots that exceed the threshold. The linear interpolation operation can be expressed as: T=b1+(s-a1)(b2-b1) / (a2-a1), where T represents the temperature value, b1 represents the preset minimum temperature, b2 represents the preset maximum temperature, s represents the value of the hue data, a1 represents the preset minimum hue value, and a2 represents the preset maximum hue value.

[0022] Please refer to Figure 2, which shows a result obtained by photographing outdoor power facilities using the power distribution equipment inspection device 100 of this invention. As shown in Figure 2, this invention marks a hotspot 21 found on an infrared image 20.

[0023] As described above, this invention proposes a power distribution equipment inspection operation. Please refer to Figure 3, which illustrates a flowchart of one aspect of the power distribution equipment inspection operation of this invention. The operation includes: driving an infrared camera to photograph outdoor power facilities along a predetermined path; wherein the infrared camera has an infrared image sensor, a first communication unit, and a control circuit coupled to the infrared image sensor and the first communication unit; the control circuit has a first memory to store multiple frames of infrared images (step S1); and driving an image processing module to perform an identification operation and an overheat judgment operation; wherein the image processing module has a control unit and a second communication unit and a second memory coupled to the control unit. A power distribution equipment identification module and a hotspot detection module are provided. The second communication unit is coupled to the first communication unit to receive the infrared image. The second memory system is used to store at least one frame of the infrared image. The control unit drives the power distribution equipment identification module to perform the identification operation on each frame of the infrared image to define a local area corresponding to any power distribution equipment in each frame of the infrared image, and drives the hotspot detection module to perform the overheat detection operation on the local area to mark the local area as a hotspot when the temperature of the local area exceeds a threshold, thereby finding an overheated power distribution equipment (step S2).

[0024] In step S2, the second communication unit transmits the coordinates of the hotspot to an external device wirelessly; the power distribution equipment identification module has an artificial intelligence module to perform the identification operation; the overheating judgment operation includes: performing a thermal radiation signal to RGB conversion operation on the local area to generate a set of RGB data; performing an RGB to hue conversion operation on the set of RGB data to generate a set of hue data; and marking the local area as the hotspot if there are any values ​​in the set of hue data that exceed the threshold.

[0025] In addition, this invention can use a linear interpolation operation to convert the value of the hue data into a temperature value, thereby quickly finding the hotspots that exceed the threshold. The linear interpolation operation can be expressed as: T=b1+(s-a1)(b2-b1) / (a2-a1), where T represents the temperature value, b1 represents the preset minimum temperature, b2 represents the preset maximum temperature, s represents the value of the hue data, a1 represents the preset minimum hue value, and a2 represents the preset maximum hue value.

[0026] Based on the above design, this creation has the following advantages:

[0027] 1. The automatic inspection scheme for power distribution equipment in this invention can automatically identify overheated power distribution equipment by capturing infrared images of outdoor power facilities along a predetermined path, and performing an identification operation and an overheating judgment operation on the captured infrared images; and

[0028] 2. The automatic inspection scheme for power distribution equipment in this case can transmit the coordinates of overheated power distribution equipment to the control center of the maintenance unit to facilitate maintenance personnel to repair the overheated power distribution equipment.

[0029] The embodiments disclosed in this case are preferred embodiments. Any partial changes or modifications that originate from the technical ideas of this case and can be easily deduced by those skilled in the art are not outside the scope of the patent rights of this case.

[0030] In conclusion, this case demonstrates technical features that are distinct from those of the conventional in terms of purpose, means, and effects. Furthermore, its original creation is practical and meets all the requirements for a utility model patent. We earnestly request that your esteemed examiner carefully review the case and grant the patent as soon as possible to benefit society. We would be truly grateful for your assistance.

[0031] 10: Internet 20: Infrared Image 21: Hot Topics 100: Power distribution equipment inspection device 110: Infrared camera 111: Infrared Image Sensor 112: First Communication Unit 113: Control Circuit 113a: First Memory 120: Image Processing Module 121: Control Unit 122: Second Communication Unit 123: Second Memory 124: Power Distribution Equipment Identification Module 125: Hotspot Detection Module 200: External Devices S1~S2: Steps

Claims

1. A power distribution equipment inspection device, comprising: an infrared camera having an infrared image sensor, a first communication unit, and a control circuit coupled to the infrared image sensor and the first communication unit, the control circuit having a first memory for storing multiple frames of infrared images; and an image processing module having a control unit and a second communication unit coupled to the control unit, a second memory, a power distribution equipment identification module, and a hotspot detection module, the second communication unit being coupled to the first communication unit to receive the infrared images, the second memory being used to store at least one frame of the infrared image, the control unit driving the power distribution equipment identification module to perform an identification operation on each frame of the infrared image to define a local area corresponding to any power distribution equipment in each frame of the infrared image, and driving the hotspot detection module to perform an overheating detection operation on the local area to mark the local area as a hotspot when the temperature of the local area exceeds a threshold, thereby identifying an overheated power distribution equipment.

2. The power distribution equipment inspection device as described in claim 1, wherein, The second communication unit transmits the coordinates of the hotspot to an external device wirelessly.

3. The power distribution equipment inspection device as described in claim 1, wherein, The power distribution equipment identification module has an artificial intelligence module to perform the identification operation.

4. The power distribution equipment inspection device as described in claim 1, wherein, The overheating detection operation includes: performing a thermal radiation signal to RGB conversion operation on the local area to generate a set of RGB data; performing an RGB to hue conversion operation on the set of RGB data to generate a set of hue data; and marking the local area as the hot spot if there are any values ​​in the set of hue data that exceed the threshold.

5. The power distribution equipment inspection device as described in claim 4, wherein, The overheating detection operation further includes: using a linear interpolation operation to convert the hue data into temperature values, thereby quickly identifying the hot spots that exceed the threshold.

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