How does it work

Engineers have been working on this issue for several years and are developing drones that can be charged directly from power lines. This time, they connected the capture system to the Tarot 650 Sport drone, which they equipped with an electric quadcopter motor, autopilot module and other components.

When the drone’s systems detect that the battery is low, the device It uses its camera and millimeter-range radar to find the nearest power line. The drone then flies toward the cables from below, using a pair of inward-angled “arms” to guide the cable into the grip. An inductive charger draws current from a power line. When the battery is charged, the grip part opens and the drone continues on its way.

Demonstration of drone operation: video

Initially, the idea was that only drones that inspect power lines would use such a charging system. Researchers demonstrated a drone that charges from power lines for the first time in 2022. This time they improved the capture system and showed a real example of the use of technology.

In a paper they will present at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation next month, the team described the project as “to our knowledge, the first system in the world that can sustain operation over multiple research/charging cycles by harvesting power from power.” open air lines in real world conditions”.

Drones have been used to monitor and inspect power lines for many years. They are especially useful in remote areas where manual inspection of power lines is difficult, such as on mountain peaks.

It’s worth noting that there is a problem with this. Drones often cling to power lines. If something goes wrong and the UAV somehow damages the power line, an entire region could be left without power. Charging sites for drones are available and can be a safer option, but they require additional infrastructure space.