UTILITY

Transmission and Distribution (T&D) power systems require periodic inspections to ensure safety and reliability. Unmanned aircraft make it possible easily reach difficult-to-monitor areas without the cost of expensive bucket trucks or specialized climbing equipment.

POLE INSPECTIONS

Wood Poles

Inspections of wood poles can help prevent premature aging by identifying some of the guilty parties to include woodpeckers, squirrels, termites or other wood-boring beetles, fungi, lightening strikes and natural aging. The key differentiator when using Unmanned Aircraft for pole inspections is that they take a fraction of the normal amount of time a traditional hands-on inspection will take.

Concrete Poles

Concrete poles can be used in areas where wood poles are prone to rot and termites; typically used in areas with high humidity, salt, or periodic flooding or areas with increased potential for fire or extreme weather such as hurricanes or blizzards. Unmanned aircraft can detect pole deterioration from road salt and corrosion while also checking for structural defects such as cracks and fragmentation.

Steel Poles

Steel poles are the most popular choice when carrying heavy loads as they are the durable, easy to install, and are 100% recyclable. The challenge with steel poles are revolve around how to get visibility into what is happening at the tops of the poles. This is because steel poles are usually taller than wood or concrete poles. Rust, corrosion, dents or other signs of structural compromise make use of the aircraft to quickly detect and capture these defects..

Imagery Highlights

Skyline Drones has relevant industry experience stemming from aerial operations and training with Southern California Edison (SCE). Our Chief Pilot often travels bi-monthly to train and certify new SCE pilots in the Los Angeles area. Some of the benefits of powerline inspection includes cable analysis, short circuits, blown transformers and can help eliminate conditions that may likely result in power and cable outages.

OTHER SERVICES

Substations

Every powerline starts or ends at a Power Substation. Due to the complex nature of a substation, Unmanned Aircraft are able to penetrated the difficult-to-monitor areas quickly and effectively providing both visual and infrared data capture. Taking use of mapping can also help with off-line inspections and overall integrity from an office desk days or sometimes weeks after the pilot has aquired the data.

Training

Our Chief Pilot, Karl Schwab, has trained over a hundred T&D pilots for SCE in Los Angeles. He has taught Patrol, Linemen, and Troublemaen throughout the 2019 - 2021 timeframe starting with PART107 (FAA Rules and Certification), Basic Flight Training (Hands On Drone Training), Advanced Flight Training and subsequent SCE certification. We understand the T&D environment and can assist with your own in-house program.

Pole Flange Analysis

A proof of concept was carried out recently to see if our photogrammetry was good enough to compare to a bucket truck for physical measurements. Turns out we nailed it to within 1mm of relative accuracy.