Category Archives: Research

A Novel Low-Cost Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Platform for Electrical Transmission Line Inspection

A team of researchers, led by Associate Professor Satoshi Suzuki from the Graduate School of Engineering at Chiba University in Japan, has developed an innovative low-cost UAV for inspecting transmission lines. In contrast to the expensive components used in other methods, this approach utilizes a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver, RGB camera, and a millimeter (mm) wave radar. Continue reading

Mitigating Magnetic Field Dangers for Power Line Inspection Drones

Unmanned aircraft systems  have emerged as a novel method of inspecting power lines, allowing power utility companies to review the health of their infrastructure more quickly and more safely. But drone operators must maintain a delicate balance, flying close enough to power lines to capture highly detailed images while staying far enough away so as not to be affected by the electromagnetic fields generated by power lines, which interfere with drone operations. Continue reading