IG Drones: Revolutionizing the Transmission Line Industry

IG Drones
5 min readNov 25, 2020

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Image Credit: DJI

Technology is driving innovation.

Technology is driving creativity.

Its technology that decides,

Mankind’s sustainability.

In the 21st century, it’s indisputable that we are all dependent on technology for our survival. While technological advancements have been regarded as both a boon and a bane to society, let us throw some light on one of the biggest boons of technology - THE DRONES and its use in THE TRANSMISSION LINE INDUSTRY

With each passing day, the use of drones in business is significantly increasing especially in the transmission line industry. They have been providing the industries with efficient and practical solutions to the problems that commonly arise in that field.

Wondering what benefits a little device as a drone could possibly serve. Come on! Feed your curiosity with the super informative article below.

IG Drones: Reinventing Transmission Line Inspection

With the exponential growth of industries in recent times, a significant rise has been observed in the use of drones in transmission line industries. They say, “Time is money”, so we’ve got to save it right? While walking among the transmission lines to detect underlying defects is not only tedious but time-consuming as well.

IG Drones not only save a lot of time but also provide us clear-cut, detailed information about the problems along with high-resolution, thermal images of the issues. This is the reason why many operation providers are being replaced by drones to increase power electricity and reduce maintenance costs. IG Drones not only help us to do predictive maintenance of the towers effectively but also keep the transmission line industry safe as this is a vital part of their work.

Transmission Line Tower captured in India by IG Drones

Inspecting Transmission towers

Tring tring…..(the telephone rings)

“There is no current supply in our colony since last 5 hours. What’s the problem?”

This type of calls is really common in the electricity board offices. Solving the problem isn’t tough, its detection is. Conventionally, the lineman used to climb up the towers to check where the actual problem lies. But again, it is not necessary that the transmission tower will always be in a suitable place. The ways to get up to the tower might be through access to private property, or the tower might be above a sequence of trees, obstructing views from the ground. Without a drone, it is undoubtedly a dangerous task. It may take numerous days to walk through private property. But with a drone, and a pilot already available, it can be done within a fraction of seconds.

Drones are unstoppable. It can be used in any area, such as area too close to the homes and areas that are difficult to access manually by ground inspection. Without any working hour hazards, one can easily get an exact look at the transmission tower, inspect the problem correctly and hence solve it with versatility.

Regular ground patrols

During regular patrols, a team member can directly deploy a drone to capture a high level of detailed inspection. The issues which might have been missed by the normal eye can easily get detected and classified efficiently. While during routine maintenance, a lineman may observe any potential issues with the transmission pole, but a company with trained ground patrol teams and drones can easily outdo the conventional methods of using bucket trucks or climbing towers.

Substation maintenance, upgrades, and inspection

Usually, the substations are easily accessible. But during maintenance or any sort of up-gradation, it needs to be turned off as it is not safe for a human to carry out the work with the current flowing. In rare situations though, this might cause a power outage for consumers leading to a lot of inconveniences.

Storm Restoration

Say, for instance, your area has been hit by a tornado or cyclone which has caused serious damage to several transmission towers. With the entire area being affected, it’s not possible for the linemen to assess the damage caused. Hence, rather than linemen, the drone can be used to carry out the inspection more effectively. With the help of a drone, we can use its software, to inspect the damages by taking detailed photos, uploading them, and creating one compatible map. This in return, allows us to take necessary measures to recover the damages rapidly and more efficiently.

CONCLUSION

We are living in a world where smart work counts more than hard work. The drones and its camera technology have the following advantages:

  • Make the task of inspection quite easier
  • Captures aerial-thermal, detailed photographs of the damages
  • Makes the process of repairing more efficient
  • Is less time consuming as compared to manual inspections
  • Reduces the cost of manual labor
  • Significant reduction in the rate of occupational hazards

Clearly, the smart work every industry would love to adapt to.

The versatility and work efficiency of this device is the main reason behind its enormous popularity and demand in the transmission line industry today.

For drones, ‘Sky is the limit’ and for the industries enforced with this technology, ease of work and profit is limitless.

Watch our latest Youtube Video on Transmission Line Inspection

ABOUT US:

IG Drones provide specialist inspection services at height and difficult to access areas, via the use of drones. Technical end-to-end solution to help you ease your operation. Capture the smallest of details with ease. Raise your operational standards & Imagine more with us. Imagine Inspire Innovate.

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