Transmission Line Monitoring System (original) (raw)

2018, Journal of emerging technologies and innovative research

In the field of Electrical Engineering, the transmission line plays an important role. During the transmission of electricity some faults occur in it. The main problems faced by transmission lines are damage of insulators, conductor corrosion, vibration damage, arching damage of conductors and leakage of current. Many lines are located in remote and rugged environments. Usually the workers who inspect these lines conduct the helicopter surveys or must climb the tower to check the line close proximity. In connection with the shortcomings of the current power transmission line inspection Transmission Line Monitoring System(TLMS) or Robot technology, a new electric power inspection leading to significant cost benefits in contrast to the conventional systems(Helicopters, industrial climbers etc.) is developed to improve the monitoring and control. The images of the line defects and potential problems are located and collected with the aerial views of the cameras. Combined with the GPS to receive the information, an autonomous inspection and airborne image real-time display is presented according to the default track points. It can be used to conduct inspection on ground, relatively small mountain ranges, plains region of daily patrol and large area electric power line disaster monitoring word. The additional features of this paper include current sensor, temperature sensor, camera and GPS tracking for various purposes to monitor the line. Index Terms-Transmission line monitoring system, robot technology, Temperature sensor, GPS tracking. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I INTRODUCTION The power generating capacity of our country is very low but conversely the consumption rate is very high as a result of which the demand for power has increased. So it has become necessary to reduce the losses in order to obtain efficient power transmission[1]. In order to achieve this, transmission lines have to be monitored in real time. The simplest form of power lines consists of one conductor per phase hung on insulator string which can be of either suspension or strain type. However in bundled power lines there is more than one conductor per phase. The inspection of power lines are difficult and dangerous for a human to perform due to the nature of their location and also due to the complexity of the power system. In order to rectify this problem, we propose a robot whose purpose is to monitor the transmission lines which would act as an alternative to a human technician. The robot is suspended from the conductor through a roller wheel mechanism and travels along the conductor. In doing so it has to cross the obstacles along the power line that requires complex robotic controls such as conductor grasping, obstacle detection, image processing and pattern recognition which require appropriate sensors, measuring devices, power supply and actuators. By using such an automated system the level of human involvement can be minimized. The robot consists of a current coil (insulation detector), RC servomotors, carbon, rotating shaft, micro-wheel assembly, transmitter, receiver, GPS and a microcontroller unit such as the Arduino. Current coil is used to determine the flow of current through the live transmission lines and the variation in the current coil reading gives the quality of insulation. It is also used to determine the transmission voltage level. Thermal imaging camera is used to measure the temperature of components and this data is used to identify the components that are defective due to normal wear & tear, chemical contamination, corrosion, fatigue and faulty assembly in transmission systems. Over heating can occur in virtually all electrical components including generators, transformers, pole top connections, insulators, jumpers, shoe connections, fuse connections, switch gears and starters. RC servo motors are used for mechanical action of the robot and thus are responsible for the locomotion of the robot. Carbon composite frames which are of low weight, forms the body of the robot. They are of high mechanical & insulating strength. Solar panels provide power to the robot by converting the solar energy into electrical energy. Vibration sensors are used to detect the hissing noise which can occur due to corona effect. In the rotating shaft ultrasonic sensors are used to detect the obstacles of the surroundings and another static sensors on the robot is used to detect the ground clearance to measure the sag in the transmission line. Micro-wheels for the robot movement are fixed over the live conductors. These micro-wheels are connected to the RC servomotors which provide mechanical energy required for the rotating the wheel. GPS assembly and Trans-receiver assembly is used for communicating the position of the robot to the control room and the monitored data. The micro-controller unit integrates all these elements in to a single system [2]. Unlike underground cables, overhead lines are vulnerable to external environmental attacks, such as adverse weather, high humidity, pollution, ground stability, vegetation, and flying objects etc. To ensure high reliability and availability of the overhead lines for bulk electricity transmission, cost effective maintenance strategies including the application of specific accessories and materials, such as lightning arrestor and high voltage insulation coating (HVIC) as well as tower refurbishment to mitigate the risks caused by lightning, pollution and typhoon are essential. Power Corporation has adopted both preventive and condition-based strategies for Transmission overhead line (TOHL) maintenance for many years and has accumulated a lot of valuable experience and knowledge on the implementation of various maintenance and refurbishment practices. These practices have led to the achievement of world class service performance and contributed in the long term economic growth[33. Existing system deals with monitoring of transmission lines by using hot line maintenance. Its main purpose is to inspect transmission lines including conductors, insulators earth wires and poles [4]. This process is done manually by checking each conductors at great height. The inspecting person is placed on the transmission lines by using helicopter. The person on the transmission line have a faraday's suite over him which acts as an insulation between line and person.