What Are the Best Drones to Use for Power Line Inspections?

The demand for power in the US is expected to rise drastically over the next two decades. This will ultimately increase the need for power line inspections, with drones increasingly being used. In this article, Unleash live recommends the best drones for performing these inspections, depending on the specific type of power line.

Drone technology has advanced significantly over the past few years and is now commonly used in various industries,  particularly the Energy sector.

Of all the ways drones can support work, inspections are one of the most common. Using a drone, an inspector can collect visual data remotely that might otherwise require an inspector to place themselves in a potentially dangerous scenario, such as working at height on a utility pole, to collect visual data for a power line inspection.

In fact, Power line inspections are one of the fastest-growing use cases for drone inspections, and unsurprisingly, there is a direct correlation between the growing demand for power and the subsequent greater need for drones. 

Leveraging Drones for Power Line Inspections

At Unleash live, we enable companies to conduct high-quality power line inspections, which are important to ensure the longevity of power lines and their supporting infrastructure, ensuring that those who rely on these critical lines continue to get power.

Traditionally, a power line inspector performs an inspection by climbing a utility pole or standing on a crane or scaffolding so they are close enough to the lines to inspect them visually. This work is inherently dangerous for various reasons, including working at heights, challenging terrain, and the potential exposure to sudden changes in weather conditions. The manual inspection process is also not scalable.

Drones, however, are substantially changing the inspection process. By collecting all the visual data needed for a power line inspection remotely, drones allow inspectors to remain safely on the ground while still collecting all the required data.

The Best Drones for Power Line Inspections

Different types of inspections call for different types of technology, and drones are no exception. At a high level, one key consideration for using a drone to perform power line inspections is whether the drone's camera has zoom capabilities.

The zoom capability is critical because flying too close to a power line can affect a drone’s signal and pose a risk to the operation. For this type of inspection, it is important to balance image resolution, object sampling distance, zoom, and distance to the object while maintaining the required safe distance from the energized components.

You may also need to use a drone that can carry an infrared camera, allowing you to look for unusual changes in heat that could indicate a potential issue or a shortage in the line or component.

Looking closer, there are two distinct types of power line inspections and a specific type of drone that we use for each one:

Transmission vs distribution poles - different assets with different inspection requirements

Transmission power lines: You might see these power lines along a highway. They’re bigger, hold multiple groups of lines, and carry bulk electricity over long distances at high voltages ranging from 60 kV to 500 kV.

Distribution power lines: These might be near a home or within a neighborhood. They’re smaller, hold only one group of lines, and are used to carry electricity over shorter distances at lower voltages than transmission power lines.

Now, let’s look at the best drones for these two types of power line inspections.

The Best Drones for Transmission Power Line Inspections

One big difference between distribution lines and transmission lines is vegetation.

Generally, vegetation is not allowed to grow near or underneath transmission lines. On the other hand, distribution lines may have vegetation growing under or near them, as they usually have a much smaller vegetation exclusion zone.

It is important to consider the possibility of vegetation growth near power assets when inspecting them, as it can add complexity to the inspection and the type of drone you choose. Some drones carry a LiDAR sensor, allowing you to pierce the vegetation to map the ground beneath it, presenting data useful for inspection purposes.

The drones and camera attachment that are ideal for transmission power line inspections

The Best Drones for Distribution Power Line Inspections

Distribution power line inspections often call for visual and thermal imagery, making it best to choose a drone that carries an RGB and an infrared sensor.

The need for the visual sensor is straightforward. Since the main inspection performed on a power line is a visual inspection, the visual sensor on the drone can collect the visual (RGB) data you need.

The thermal or infrared sensor is useful for both distribution and transmission line inspections because it allows early detection of hot spots and possible ignition sources. 

Drones that are ideal for distribution power line inspections

Drones used for distribution power line inspections:

• The DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced

• The DJI M3T

• The DJI M30T

• The DJI Matrice 350 and H20T

Improve Your Power Line Inspections with Unleash live

Safety isn’t the only benefit of using drones for power line inspections.

Drones also provide accessible data records of the inspection, which can be shared with stakeholders and archived to inform future maintenance decisions. Drones also help make power line inspections quicker, reducing downtime during unplanned outages and helping reduce the cost of planned inspections by making them faster and more efficient.

Unleash live improves power line inspections with drones, allowing you to live stream your drone’s live feed so remote stakeholders can see what your drone is seeing in real-time.

All collected data can easily be filtered and reviewed through tags, components, faults, or visualized geospatially for a rapid overview of asset condition.

We also provide a Powerline A.I. App, made to streamline power line inspections by automatically inspecting and cataloging components and faults in a fraction of the time it would take to do the same work manually.

Learn more about how Unleash live can help you improve your power line inspections.