![]() ![]() “I wouldn’t do this any differently, but I can see that training a drone pilot for a utility application makes them very attractive to other utilities that can pay them more,” Siepker says. One retired, but the others took higher-paying jobs. But the Cherryland program is in a bit of limbo now because four of its nine qualified and FAA-certified pilots have left the co-op. The drones fly a couple of missions per month, and Siepker would like to handle more. Cherryland serves some 36,000 meters across 3,000 miles of line. Their role is to detect defective components, conduct asset inventory with high-resolution zoom cameras, and perform thermal imaging. Its two drones are detailed primarily for preventative maintenance, says Frank Siepker, engineering and operations manager. System assessment (post-storm and routine)Ĭherryland Electric Cooperative’s in-house UAS program has had a similar core mission to that of Pedernales during its two years of operation.Nevertheless, most programs tend to have four high-level goals or applications: McHann says a good UAS program is built to meet a co-op’s specific needs. The co-op estimates these drone flights are 90 percent cheaper than ground surveys.īut the most important metric, Bitzko says, is increased safety because line crews spend fewer hazardous hours on poles and towers. The UAS unit has also supported more than 30 mission requests from other Pedernales departments, including new-construction quality assurance, surveying right-of-way conditions, compliance inspections, and outage troubleshooting. After the project, the co-op’s System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) dropped by 15 percent. More than 480 flight miles revealed some 2,000 maintenance items, 52 of which were critical. In 2018–19, it concentrated on 40 distribution feeders serving over 53,000 members. Pedernales targets much of its UAS program at preventative maintenance. The co-op has five drones in operation and expects to increase to 16 this year. ![]() The speed, efficiency, and economies offered by UAS are key advantages for a system the size of Pedernales, with 300,000 accounts across 8,100 square miles and 22,813 miles of line. It was effectively the proof-of-concept trial that launched the Pedernales UAS department, which now has eight drone pilots certified by the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA)-two full time-with plans to expand to 24. “It was faster and safer than putting an apprentice lineman in a kayak to carry the pull line across the stream,” Bitzko says. When he proposed the idea, permission was granted because of the obvious advantages of using the small aircraft. ![]() The pull rope was then attached to conductor cable, which was tugged into place and installed. He says his “Aha!” moment came when he realized he could use a recreational drone to fly a strong but light rope over dangerously flooded streams to an awaiting crew. Pedernales Electric Cooperative was assessing damage from devastating Memorial Day floods along the Blanco River watershed in the Texas Hill Country.Įric Bitzko is the system maintenance supervisor who heads Pedernales’s UAS program. One of the earliest unofficial practical applications of a drone at a co-op was from 2015, when The first patent was granted in 1989 for a remotely piloted drone to monitor power lines and rights-of-way, according to a 2017 report by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory that examined UAS technology in the utility industry. Industry interest and applications go even further back. These whirring remote-control aircraft readily caught the attention of co-op engineers and tech-oriented employees as far back as 10 years ago, when drones were being showcased for their military applications in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. “The early adopters have moved from, ‘Hey this is cool!’ to using drones as an integral tool in system reliability,” McHann says. The interest, he says, increases as UAS technology evolves with airframes that are more maneuverable, can lift and carry loads, and are equipped with new thermal, sonic, and laser sensors. He bases the estimate on participation in workshops he conducts at NRECA events and conferences and the nearly constant inquiries he receives as the association’s UAS program lead in the Business and Technology Strategies group. And while there are no firm numbers on use within the network, McHann estimates at least 400 co-ops own or deploy drones. “I see this moving very fast in the next few years.”Ĭo-ops are increasingly adding UAS technologies to their operations, maintenance, and marketing plans. “We’re right at the point now where the technology, the rules for use, and the broad awareness of the benefits are coming together,” he says. The day when it’s common to see a drone, or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), hovering above a power line isn’t here yet, but it is coming, says Stanley McHann, NRECA’s senior research engineer. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |