Power transmission line intelligent inspection system based on unmanned aerial vehicle
Through the cooperation of tethered drones and collaborative control modules, the poor field of view and construction difficulties of drones when patrolling transmission lines at night or in extreme weather conditions are solved, and precise lighting and construction efficiency are improved.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202510505353.5
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2025-04-22
- Publication Date
- 2025-07-25
- Estimated Expiration
- 2045-04-22
AI Technical Summary
When existing drones patroll the transmission line at night or in extreme weather conditions, their field of view is poor and they cannot effectively mark the damaged location, resulting in difficult construction.
The tethered drone is used to cooperate with the power supply platform and collaborative control module to achieve accurate lighting and illumination range control of the construction area. The fault information is obtained through the inspection and analysis module and the drone is released at a fixed point, and the lighting equipment is adjusted to meet the construction illuminance requirements.
It realizes accurate lighting of the construction area at night or extreme weather conditions, saves energy, ensures reasonable exposure to construction targets, and improves construction efficiency.
Smart Images

Figure CN120370975A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of transmission line inspection, and specifically relates to an intelligent inspection system for transmission lines based on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Background Art
[0002] With the development of UAV technology, it has gradually become possible to achieve electronic, information-based, and intelligent inspection work, improving the work efficiency of power line inspection and the level of emergency rescue. When geological disasters, earthquakes, or other emergency dangerous situations occur, UAVs can conduct visual inspections and investigations on potential dangers of transmission lines.
[0003] When existing UAVs inspect transmission lines at night, due to poor visibility at night or in extreme weather, the flight and inspection of UAVs are relatively inconvenient. Moreover, when a power line is found to be damaged, it can only be displayed on a monitor through an electrical signal, and no obvious mark can be made at the damaged location, resulting in the inability of subsequent workers to quickly find the damaged position when repairing the cable. For example, Chinese Patent CN106602468A discloses a UAV automatic inspection system for transmission lines based on image recognition and differential GPS, which relates to the field of UAVs and includes a UAV body, a ground station control system, and a UAV flight control system. The UAV flight control system is installed on the UAV body and is wirelessly connected to the ground station control system. The UAV flight control system is provided with an automatic inspection module, and the automatic inspection module includes a high-definition camera and a differential GPS locator. The high-definition camera and the GPS locator are communicatively connected to a data storage module. An image recognition system is provided on the UAV body, and the image recognition system is electrically connected to the automatic inspection module. The UAV uses the differential GPS locator to accurately locate the set line for inspection and automatically avoid obstacles, and at the same time, identify and analyze the damage conditions of devices such as insulators in the transmission line.
[0004] Also, such as Chinese Patents CN216401744U, CN115046532A, CN114859966A, etc., all provide a method for inspecting lines based on UAVs. However, for UAVs, especially in the case of involving a UAV supervision cabin, how to better control the UAV during construction. Based on this, the present application provides a technical solution for an intelligent inspection system for transmission lines based on UAVs. Summary of the Invention
[0005] The present invention aims to solve at least one of the technical problems existing in the prior art;
[0006] To this end, the present invention proposes an intelligent inspection system for transmission lines based on UAVs, including:
[0007] A tethered UAV for illuminating the construction site of a faulty line;
[0008] A power supply platform installed in the rear cargo bed of a pickup truck, which is used to supply power to the tethered drone and wind in and out the wire;
[0009] A collaborative control module, which is used to generate an illumination control strategy for the tethered drone. The illumination control strategy can ensure the reference illuminance of the construction target while covering the illumination area;
[0010] An inspection and analysis module, which is used to obtain line fault information, release the tethered drone at a fixed point, and then detect the illuminance on the ground where the illumination area is located and mark it as the real-time illuminance;
[0011] When the real-time illuminance is not less than the reference illuminance, the height of the tethered drone will be controlled to increase at this time to expand the illumination range of the tethered drone until the real-time illuminance is between the reference illuminance and the upper limit illuminance, and the upper limit illuminance is equal to 1.15 times the reference illuminance;
[0012] After reaching this height, mark this height as the illumination height corresponding to the construction target;
[0013] If the real-time illuminance is less than the reference illuminance, an additional lighting device will be added at this time, and then the relationship between the real-time illuminance and the reference illuminance will be re-verified. If the real-time illuminance is still less than the reference illuminance at this time, additional lighting devices will continue to be added;
[0014] If the real-time illuminance after the change is not less than the reference illuminance, all tethered drones will be controlled to increase in height to expand the illumination range of the tethered drones until the real-time illuminance is between the reference illuminance and the upper limit illuminance, and the upper limit illuminance is equal to 1.15 times the reference illuminance;
[0015] The corresponding control strategies for all construction targets are executed by means of an execution unit.
[0016] Furthermore, the collaborative control module includes a preliminary analysis unit and an execution unit. The preliminary analysis unit is used to generate a preliminary control strategy for the tethered drone. The specific generation method is as follows:
[0017] Before the maintenance construction, first obtain the target maintenance position that requires illumination. When the illuminance at the target maintenance position fails to reach the set basic illuminance;
[0018] The tethered drone will be automatically released according to the target maintenance position, and the initial illumination will be carried out with the help of the tethered drone. Because the specific construction position is uncertain during construction, so initial range illumination will be carried out. The range illumination refers to the tethered drone illuminating the entire construction site;
[0019] Obtain the preliminary control strategy and transmit it to the execution unit to drive the tethered drone to execute this strategy.
[0020] Further, it also includes a binomial analysis unit, which is used to perform data calibration after the construction starts. The specific method of data calibration is as follows:
[0021] At this time, all construction targets on the construction site will obtain their own positions and synchronize their positions and irradiation surfaces to the collaborative control module. Here, the irradiation surface refers to the working range of different construction targets during construction, and this range can be set by the method of personnel designation; the construction target refers to the object that needs to work at the construction site, and the construction targets include construction personnel and construction equipment. Here, the construction equipment that is used on-site and whose lighting cannot meet the construction conditions is uniformly marked as construction equipment.
[0022] Further, the binomial analysis unit is also used to perform lighting analysis on all construction targets and their corresponding irradiation surfaces, so as to generate control strategies for all construction targets.
[0023] Further, the irradiation surface is determined through range analysis by the binomial analysis unit. The specific method of range analysis is as follows:
[0024] Select any construction target, obtain the maximum moving distance of the construction target, draw a circle with this moving distance as the radius, and obtain an initial irradiation surface;
[0025] Then reduce it by a fixed value. The fixed value is a preset value. The reduction method is that the center of the circle remains unchanged, and then the radius of the initial irradiation surface is successively reduced by a fixed value. When reducing by one fixed value each time, draw a circle to obtain several circular regions;
[0026] For several circular regions, compare the duration of the construction target in different circular regions, and in combination with the order from the outside to the inside of the circular regions, compare according to the proportion of the duration and the set ratio, and then delete them. Mark the circular region with the largest remaining coverage area after deletion as the irradiation surface.
[0027] Further, after determining several circular regions, the method for determining the irradiation surface is as follows:
[0028] Then monitor the duration of each circular region and the construction duration of the construction target within the set duration. The specific method for monitoring the construction duration is as follows: when any part of the construction target leaves the circular region, the corresponding circular region is not timed, and it is counted into the region of the remaining part, that is, when timing, calculate the duration of the circular region that the construction target enters and is farthest from the center of the circle;
[0029] Obtain the construction duration of each circular region, and then calculate the proportion of the construction duration of each circular region in the total construction duration to obtain the construction proportion. The total construction duration is the sum of all construction durations;
[0030] Afterwards, mark out the circular areas with a construction ratio lower than X1 and label them as circular marked areas. Delete the circular areas according to the outermost circular area existing in the circular marked areas;
[0031] Mark the remaining outermost circular area as the illumination surface;
[0032] Perform the same processing on all the remaining construction targets to obtain the illumination surface of each construction target.
[0033] Furthermore, the specific method for deleting the circular areas is as follows:
[0034] If the circular marked area contains the outermost circular area, then delete this circular area. After deletion, check whether the circular marked area still contains the outermost circular area in the circular area after deletion, and delete it. Repeat the process until there is no outermost circular area in the circular marked area.
[0035] Furthermore, it also includes a scheduling unit, and the scheduling unit is also used to monitor the power of the tethered drone in real time. The specific method is as follows:
[0036] The remaining flight time of any tethered drone will be obtained. When the flight time is lower than the set value, the tethered drone will be automatically replaced for updated lighting;
[0037] When any tethered drone has insufficient battery life and there are not enough tethered drones for battery life, any construction target illuminated by two or more tethered drones will be replaced by one, and at the same time, the height of the corresponding tethered drone will be reduced to ensure that the real-time illuminance exceeds the reference illuminance when it irradiates the construction target, and the tethered drone will be controlled to move along the movement trajectory of the construction target to ensure its construction.
[0038] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are:
[0039] In this application, the drone is released at a fixed point for the area that needs to be repaired found during the inspection, and lighting is provided by the drone. When the tethered drone is used for construction lighting, firstly, the tethered drone can be controlled to be in a most reasonable lighting range, and it can illuminate each piece of equipment in construction in a small area while ensuring the construction illuminance, achieving precise lighting and not wasting redundant energy;
[0040] At the same time, a reasonable control can be made on the irradiation range and the ascending height, and it can also ensure that the reasonable working range of the construction target can be reasonably irradiated; the present invention is simple and effective and easy to use. Description of the Drawings
[0041] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the intelligent inspection system for transmission lines based on drones of the present invention;
[0042] Figure 2 is the structural block diagram of the present invention;
[0043] Figure 3 is the structural block diagram of the cooperative control module in the first embodiment and the second embodiment of the present invention;
[0044] Figure 4 is the structural block diagram of the cooperative control module in the third embodiment of the present invention. Detailed implementation manners
[0045] The technical solutions of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the embodiments. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all of the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.
[0046] Please refer to Figures 1-4 , this application provides an intelligent inspection system for transmission lines based on drones; using the space in the rear compartment of a pickup truck, a vehicle-mounted emergency lighting system including a storage lithium battery, a solar panel, a tethered lighting drone, an automatic wire winding and unwinding device, and a takeoff and landing platform is constructed. The system can be replenished with energy in multiple ways such as vehicle power generation, solar energy, and charging piles. During night construction or emergencies, the vehicle stops and the tethered drone is released for lighting use.
[0047] The first embodiment:
[0048] As Figures 1-3 shown, as the first embodiment of this application, it specifically includes: a power supply platform and a tethered drone. The power supply platform includes a storage lithium battery, a solar panel, and an automatic wire winding and unwinding device arranged in the rear compartment of the pickup truck; wherein the automatic wire winding and unwinding device here is used for winding and unwinding the tethered drone; the storage lithium battery, solar panel, and automatic wire winding and unwinding device arranged in the pickup truck compartment as described above can all be realized through existing technologies and are not the key technologies of this application. The focus of this application is how to better allocate the lighting environment for the role of the tethered drone during maintenance construction, especially for temporary construction or some emergency construction in other situations;
[0049] Therefore, this application further includes a cooperative control module for the drone, which can be specifically arranged in the rear compartment of the pickup truck. The cooperative control module includes:
[0050] A preliminary analysis unit, which is used to generate a preliminary control strategy for the tethered drone. The specific generation method is:
[0051] Before the maintenance construction, first obtain the target maintenance position that requires lighting. When the illuminance at the target maintenance position fails to reach the set basic illuminance;
[0052] The tethered drone will be automatically released according to the target maintenance position. That is to say, when a line that needs to be repaired is found, in extreme weather or geological disasters, etc., the tethered drone is used for initial lighting. Because during construction, the specific construction location is uncertain, so initial range lighting will be carried out. Range lighting refers to the tethered drone providing full-site lighting for the construction site;
[0053] Obtain the initial control strategy and transmit it to the execution unit to drive the tethered drone to execute the strategy;
[0054] It also includes a binomial analysis unit. The binomial analysis unit is used to perform data calibration after the construction starts. The specific method of data calibration is as follows:
[0055] At this time, all construction targets on the construction site will obtain their own positions and synchronize their positions and the illumination surfaces to the collaborative control module. The illumination surface here refers to the working range of different construction targets during construction, and this range can be set by the method of personnel designation; Construction targets refer to the objects working at the construction site. Construction targets include construction personnel and construction equipment. The construction equipment here includes equipment such as excavators that can be used in relevant construction, that is, those that require construction personnel to operate at the construction site and lack their own lighting or whose own lighting cannot meet the construction conditions are uniformly marked as construction equipment;
[0056] The binomial analysis unit is also used to perform lighting analysis on all construction targets and their corresponding illumination surfaces. The specific method of lighting analysis is as follows:
[0057] First, select any construction target and its corresponding illumination surface, and control the tethered drone to fly to the illumination surface where the corresponding construction target is located. At this time, first ensure that the illumination range of the tethered drone's lighting just covers the corresponding illumination surface;
[0058] The inspection and analysis module is used to obtain line fault information and release the tethered drone at a fixed point. Then it will detect the illuminance of the ground where the illumination surface is located and mark it as the real-time illuminance;
[0059] When the real-time illuminance is not less than the reference illuminance, at this time, control the height of the tethered drone to increase and expand the illumination range of the tethered drone until the real-time illuminance is between the reference illuminance and the upper limit illuminance. The upper limit illuminance is equal to 1.15 times the reference illuminance;
[0060] After reaching this height, mark this height as the lighting height of the corresponding construction target;
[0061] When the real-time illuminance is less than the reference illuminance, an additional lighting device will be added at this time. Specifically, it is by hanging an additional lighting device on the drone or adding a tethered drone to irradiate it. After the adjustment, the relationship between the real-time illuminance and the reference illuminance is re-verified. If the real-time illuminance is still less than the reference illuminance at this time, additional lighting devices or a tethered drone will be added continuously;
[0062] If the real-time illuminance after adjustment is not less than the reference illuminance, the heights of all tethered drones will be controlled to rise to expand the irradiation range of the tethered drones until the real-time illuminance is between the reference illuminance and the upper limit illuminance, where the upper limit illuminance is equal to 1.15 times the reference illuminance;
[0063] Complete the lighting control analysis of the construction target and organize it into a control strategy corresponding to the construction target;
[0064] Perform the same processing on the remaining construction targets to obtain the control strategies for all construction targets;
[0065] Execute the control strategies for all corresponding construction targets with the help of the execution unit.
[0066] Embodiment 2:
[0067] As Figures 1-3 shown, as Embodiment 2 of the present application, this embodiment is implemented on the basis of Embodiment 1. The difference from Embodiment 1 is that the irradiation area is determined through range analysis by a binomial analysis unit. The specific method of range analysis is as follows:
[0068] Select any construction target, obtain the maximum moving distance of the construction target, draw a circle with this moving distance as the radius to obtain an initial irradiation area;
[0069] Then reduce it by a fixed value. The fixed value is a preset value. The reduction method is that the center of the circle remains unchanged, and then the radius of the initial irradiation area is successively reduced by a fixed value. Draw a circle every time a fixed value is reduced to obtain a number of circular areas;
[0070] Then monitor the construction target within a set time period for each circular area and the construction duration. The specific method of monitoring the construction duration is as follows: When any part of the construction target leaves the circular area, the corresponding circular area is not timed, and it is included in the area of the remaining part, that is, when timing, calculate the duration of the circular area that the construction target enters and is farthest from the center of the circle;
[0071] Obtain the construction duration of each circular area, and then calculate the proportion of the construction duration of each circular area to the total construction duration to obtain the construction ratio. The total construction duration is the sum of all construction durations;
[0072] After that, mark out the circular areas with a construction ratio lower than X1 and label them as circular marked areas. If the circular marked area contains the outermost circular area, delete that circular area. After deletion, check if the circular marked area still contains the outermost circular area in the circular area after deletion, and delete it. Repeat this process until there is no outermost circular area in the circular marked area;
[0073] Mark the remaining outermost circular areas as the irradiation surfaces;
[0074] Perform the same processing on all the remaining construction targets to obtain the irradiation surfaces of each construction target.
[0075] Embodiment 3:
[0076] As Figure 4 shown, as Embodiment 3 of the present application, the present application is implemented on the basis of Embodiment 1. The difference from Embodiment 1 is that:
[0077] The present application further includes a scheduling unit, and the scheduling unit is also used to monitor the power of the tethered drone in real time. The specific method is:
[0078] The remaining flight time of any tethered drone will be obtained. When the flight time is lower than the set value, the tethered drone will be automatically replaced for updated lighting;
[0079] When any tethered drone has insufficient battery life and there are not enough tethered drones for battery life, any construction target illuminated by two or more tethered drones will be replaced by one, and at the same time, the height of the corresponding tethered drone will be reduced to ensure that the real-time illuminance exceeds the reference illuminance when it irradiates the construction target, and the tethered drone will be controlled to move along the movement trajectory of the construction target to ensure its construction.
[0080] Of course, the present application can also integrate and implement all the embodiments.
[0081] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical method of the present invention and not to limit it. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that the technical method of the present invention can be modified or equivalently replaced without departing from the spirit and scope of the technical method of the present invention.
Claims
1. An intelligent inspection system for transmission lines based on drones, characterized in that, Including: A tethered drone for illuminating the construction site of a faulty line; A power supply platform for powering the tethered drone and for paying out and taking in the wire; A collaborative control module for generating an illumination control strategy for the tethered drone, and achieving the reference illuminance of the construction target and ensuring coverage of the illumination area through the illumination control strategy; An inspection and analysis module for obtaining line fault information, and for releasing the tethered drone at a fixed point, and also for detecting the illuminance of the ground at the position where the illumination area is located, and marking it as the real-time illuminance; When the real-time illuminance is not less than the reference illuminance, control the height of the tethered drone to increase, expand the illumination range of the tethered drone until the real-time illuminance is between the reference illuminance and the upper limit illuminance, and mark the corresponding height as the illumination height of the construction target, and the upper limit illuminance is equal to 1.15 times the reference illuminance; Otherwise, add one lighting device in sequence, and re-check the relationship between the real-time illuminance and the reference illuminance until the real-time illuminance is not less than the reference illuminance.
2. The intelligent inspection system for transmission lines based on unmanned aerial vehicles according to claim 1, wherein, When the real-time illuminance is less than the reference illuminance, add one lighting device, re-check the relationship between the real-time illuminance and the reference illuminance. If the real-time illuminance is still less than the reference illuminance, continue to add one lighting device, check the relationship between the real-time illuminance and the reference illuminance until the real-time illuminance is not less than the reference illuminance, then control the height of all the tethered drones to increase, expand the illumination range of the tethered drones until the real-time illuminance is between the reference illuminance and the upper limit illuminance.
3. The intelligent inspection system for transmission lines based on drones according to claim 1, characterized in that, The collaborative control module includes a preliminary analysis unit and an execution unit. The preliminary analysis unit is used for generating a preliminary control strategy for the tethered drone; the execution unit is used for executing the control strategies of all construction targets. When the preliminary analysis unit generates a preliminary control strategy, it executes the following algorithm: Before the maintenance construction, obtain the target maintenance position that requires illumination. When the illuminance at the target maintenance position does not reach the set basic illuminance, automatically release the tethered drone according to the target maintenance position, and use the tethered drone for range initial illumination. Range initial illumination refers to the tethered drone illuminating the construction site comprehensively; Transmit the preliminary control strategy to the execution unit, and the execution unit drives the tethered drone to execute the preliminary control strategy.
4. The intelligent inspection system for transmission lines based on unmanned aerial vehicles according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes a secondary analysis unit. The secondary analysis unit is used for data calibration after the construction starts. The specific method of data calibration is: Obtain the self-positions of all construction targets on the construction site, and synchronize the self-positions and the illumination area to the collaborative control module; The illumination area refers to the working ranges of different construction targets during construction, and the working ranges are set by the management personnel; The construction target refers to the object that needs to work at the construction site. The construction targets include construction personnel and construction equipment. All equipment used at the construction site and whose illumination cannot meet the construction conditions are uniformly marked as construction equipment.
5. The intelligent inspection system for transmission lines based on drones according to claim 4, characterized in that The secondary analysis unit is also used for illuminating and analyzing all construction targets and their corresponding illumination areas, and generating control strategies for all construction targets.
6. The intelligent inspection system for transmission lines based on drones according to claim 5, characterized in that, Range analysis is also determined through the secondary analysis unit. The specific method of range analysis is: Select any construction target, obtain the maximum moving distance of the construction target, draw a circle with the maximum moving distance as the radius to obtain an initial preliminary illumination area; Then, it is reduced by a fixed value, which is a preset value. The reduction method is that the center of the circle remains unchanged, and then the radius of the initial illumination surface is successively reduced by a fixed value. A circle is drawn each time the fixed value is reduced, and several circular regions are obtained; For several circular regions, according to the duration of the construction target in different circular regions, after comparing the duration ratio with the set ratio, circular regions are deleted, and the circular region with the largest remaining coverage area after deletion is marked as the illumination surface.
7. The intelligent inspection system for transmission lines based on drones according to claim 6, characterized in that, After determining several circular regions, the method for determining the illumination surface is as follows: During the set duration, monitor the construction target in each circular region and the corresponding construction duration. The method for monitoring the construction duration is: when any part of the construction target leaves the circular region, the corresponding circular region is not timed. When calculating, the duration is counted into the circular region farthest from the center of the circle where the construction target enters; Obtain the construction duration of each circular region, and then calculate the ratio of the construction duration of each circular region to the total construction duration to obtain the construction ratio. The total construction duration is the sum of all construction durations; Mark the circular regions with a construction ratio lower than X1, mark them as circular marked regions, and delete the outermost circular region in the circular marked regions; Mark the remaining outermost circular region as the illumination surface; Perform the same processing on all other construction targets to obtain the illumination surface of each construction target.
8. The intelligent inspection system for transmission lines based on drones according to claim 7, wherein, The specific method for deleting circular regions is as follows: If the circular marked region contains the outermost circular region, then delete this circular region. After deletion, check whether the circular marked region still contains the outermost circular region in the circular region after deletion, and delete it. Repeat the process until there is no outermost circular region in the circular marked region.
9. The intelligent inspection system for transmission lines based on unmanned aerial vehicles according to claim 1, characterized in that It also includes a scheduling unit, which is also used to monitor the power of the tethered UAV in real time. The specific method is as follows: Obtain the remaining flight time of any tethered UAV. When the flight time is lower than the set value, automatically replace the tethered UAV to update the lighting; When any tethered UAV has insufficient power and there are not enough tethered UAVs for power supply, any construction target illuminated by two or more tethered UAVs will be replaced by one, and at the same time, the height of the corresponding tethered UAV will be reduced to ensure that the real-time illuminance exceeds the reference illuminance when it shines on the construction target, and the tethered UAV will be controlled to move along the movement trajectory of the construction target to ensure the maintenance construction.
Citation Information
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Unmanned aerial vehicle automatic inspection power transmission line system based on image identification and differential GPS
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