HV Feeders Inspection
Aerial scoping and inspection of HV Feeders throughout low access-high risk areas in dense bushland
PROJECT OVERVIEW
The rugged terrain and dense bushland of the Blue Mountains makes access for powerline maintenance difficult and the consequences of unidentified defects high. Previously, Diodrone’s client utilised foot patrols and helicopter data acquisition to assess the condition of the vegetation and pole tops and complete HV feeders inspection throughout their network. Though, the nature of the feeder alignments made foot patrols hazardous and costly to conduct. Helicopter data capture had the ability to rapidly cover large areas, but at a relatively low level of detail.
Diodrone was approached to develop an inspection and monitoring solution which would provide a higher level of detail on a more flexible and timely basis.
PROJECT SCOPE
Aerial Scoping
Aerial Inspection
Vegetation Defect Report
DIODRONE SOLUTION
Diodrone worked closely with the client to understand their needs in regards to vegetation monitoring and pole top inspections, developing a solution which complimented the information provided by manned helicopter fly overs and significantly reduced the need for foot patrols, particularly in low access areas. Over a period of 5 days, without disrupting network operations, Diodrone flew more than 60km of HV feeders capturing imagery and video, along with a trial of drone LiDAR for quantitative analysis of vegetation clearances. The fly over videos were processed to include asset labels for each pole, OHWS and cross road—providing a high detail visualisation alongside the LiDAR detected clearance defects. While flying the feeders, pole top inspection was carried out at select locations to demonstrate the superior quality over manned aircraft methods.
Deliverables included clearance reports, complete end-to-end feeder fly overs and high resolution imagery.
