AP-Transco mulls drone patrolling to assess health of transmission assets
It invites tenders from the DGCA-compliant drone service providers to deploy unmanned aerial vehicles for preventive maintenance on a pilot basis
The Andhra Pradesh Transmission Corporation (AP-Transco) is considering the use of drone technology to evaluate the condition of its transmission assets. The corporation has opened tenders for drone service providers that comply with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) regulations. The successful companies will fly drones for a two-year pilot project to monitor the condition of approximately 23,000 transmission line towers and 8,500 kilometers of Extra High Voltage (400 kV, 220 kV, and 132 kV) lines.
Photos and videos captured by drones will be analyzed using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other tools to identify issues that may be missed during manual inspections. This initiative aims to reduce the costs and time required to assess the health of the transmission infrastructure. Drawing inspiration from the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited's experience, AP-Transco intends to use drones equipped with multi-sensor payloads to identify potential problems affecting grid stability and causing financial implications.
The use of drones enables several sorties (missions) to be completed in less time compared to human intervention. The corporation is also developing AI tools in-house to minimize costs. A decision on extending the drone patrolling to cover 33,000 kilometers of Transco lines will be made based on the outcome of the pilot project, according to AP-Transco Director A.K.V. Bhaskar.
Written by urgent.news from The Hindu's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
