According to the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, robots will be able to both clean the wires from snow and ice, and report on the condition of the wires
The development allows to track even microcracks, which can destroy the insulator or the fastening of power lines. The robot also detects the slope of the power transmission poles and tracks the dynamics of the deviation, which allows preventing a rapid fall and breakage. The development is adapted to the Russian power supply system. In other countries, there may be specific wiring arrangements on supports, other wind loads and other factors.
— There are no ready-made mass solutions in the country at the moment. In the USA, China, Canada, the Netherlands, research is being conducted on this topic, but the samples obtained are heavy and clumsy, and are designed to move from one main plank to another. In Russia, there are similar developments using flying drones, but the methods of measuring indicators for accuracy cannot be compared with the contact methods of a robot developed at SUAI," said Alexander Rysin, senior lecturer at the Department of Electromechanics and Robotics at the Institute of Cyberphysical Systems of SUAI and head of the Robotics Laboratory at the University's School of Engineering.
