Realizing autonomous inspection, such as that of power distribution lines, through unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems is a key research domain in robotics. In particular, the use of autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles to execute the tasks of an inspection process can enhance the efficacy and safety of the operation; however, many technical problems, such as those pertaining to the precise positioning and path following of the vehicles, robust obstacle detection, and intelligent control, must be addressed. In this study, an innovative architecture involving an unmanned aircraft vehicle (UAV) and an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) was examined for detailed inspections of power lines. In the proposed strategy, each vehicle provides its position information to the other, which ensures a safe inspection process. The results of real-world experiments indicate a satisfactory performance, thereby demonstrating the feasibility of the proposed approach.

Autonomous inspection Unmanned Aerial Vehicle systems are an essential research area, including power line distribution inspection. Considerable efforts to solve the demanding presented in the autonomous U AV inspection process are present in technical and scientific research. One of these challenges is the precise positioning and fly control of the U AV around the energy structures, which is vital to assure the security of the operation. The most common techniques to achieve precise positioning in UAV fly are Global Positioning Systems with Real-Time Kinematic. This technique demands a proper satellite signal receiving to work appropriately, sometimes hard to achieve. The present work proposes a complementary position data system based on augmented reality tags (AR Tags) to increase the reliability of the UAV fly positioning system. The system application is proposed for energy power tower inspections as an example of use. The adaptation to other inspection tasks is possible whit some small changes. Experimental results have shown that an increase in the position accuracy is accomplished with the use of this schema.

The inspection process of power line distribution infrastructure is mandatory on Brasil, defined by ANEEL agency. In the last years there was a increase in the use of small size Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in this kind of tasks, due to a lot flexible and cheap equipments offered on market. The objective of the present work is to describe an UAV architecture specifically built for high voltage energy distribution towers inspections. The UAV was developed based on small cost sensors and components. The project of this model was based on technical parameters defined by the operation description related by the energy enterprises, seeking to make a secure system for the task. A set of laboratory and outside environment tests was performed to evaluate the response capabilities of the used sensors in detect the components and structure of the distribution tower, seeking to guarantee the perfect operation of the architecture in the inspection work environment. Resumo: O processo de inspeção de linhas de distribuição de energiaé uma tarefa obrigatória definida pela ANEEL no nosso país. Nosúltimos anos houve um aumento considerável na utilização de veículos aéreos não tripulados (VANTs) de pequeno porte nestas tarefas, devidò a oferta de equipamentos deste tipo no mercado com custo acessível. Este trabalho tem como objetivo descrever um modelo de VANT especificamente projetado para a aplicação em inspeção de torres de distribuição de energia de alta tensão. A aeronave foi constituída com base em sensores e componentes de baixo custo disponíveis no mercado. Seu projeto foi baseado em parâmetros obtidos na descrição da operação de inspeção pelas concessionárias de energia elétrica, de forma a tornar o sistema seguro e eficaz para a tarefa designada. Testes em ambiente de laboratório e em campo foram realizados para avaliar a capacidade de resposta dos sensores utilizados na detecção das peças e da estrutura das torres de distribuição, de forma a garantir a perfeita operação do sistema durante as tarefas de inspeção.