In the future, the control and maintenance of overhead power lines will be supported by artificial intelligence. Photo: Jan Pauls
50Hertz and two Fraunhofer member institutes of the research factory "Forschungsfabrik Mikroelektronik Deutschland (FMD)" join forces to test technologies in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in order to detect fault on overhead lines earlier and therefore fix them more efficiently. Their objective is to have algorithms automatically assess the recordings from different inspections. Both partners decided to set up a project named "CoDro" for this purpose.
CoDro stands for Common Algorithms for Autonomous Drones Operation. This way, continuous static monitoring should be developed in the future by means of high-resolution static images of overhead power lines. Based on these image data, AI algorithms and trained neural networks can locate and classify possible defects. A first test was carried out for corrosion damage on pylons.
The two FMD member institutes in Berlin, the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration (IZM) contribute their professional expertise to this 50Hertz project. While Fraunhofer HHI is responsible for the AI-based automatic detection of corrosion faults, Fraunhofer IZM is working on the image database, the labelling/annotation tool and the web platform. In parallel, 50Hertz is providing extensive image material gathered during drone and helicopter flights for the creation of the database. A web-based tool for labelling and image management has already been developed from these images.
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