Inspection system for electrical transmission lines using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)

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Canada's bulk high voltage transmission network spans 160,000 km. Parts of this grid are very inaccessible on rugged terrain. Maintaining reliability of these lines is intricately related to the safety and security of our nation. For example, line inspection failure was a significant determining factor in the 2003 Northeast Blackout which led to tremendous economic and environmental damage. The proposed research aims to improve the safety and security of Canada by developing an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) which automates the inspection of electrical transmission lines. A UAV-based solution offers advantages over conventional piloted or ground crew approaches. Labour cost are reduced, safety is improved, inspection data is accurate and diverse, and inspection is possible in harsh environments. These benefits are important given pressure on utilities to maximize use of ageing infrastructure while minimizing cost and meeting high performance expectations. UAV technology developed in this work also benefits the field of unmanned vehicles, a sector with large growth potential for Canada. The supporting organizations are important representatives of power transmission and UAV industries. Interactions with these partners will lead to benefits such as technology transfer and training. The research objectives are divided into two parts and contribute to the application and theory of controls, vision, and robotics. The first part develops basic autonomy for a helicopter UAV to simplify inspection. A system for navigating, landing, taking off, and waypoint tracking is developed to reduce an operator's role in controlling the vehicle's motion. Control theory is used to optimize the algorithms' robustness