albatroz engineering

2015

Albatroz Engineering

Engineering solutions for Overhead Line Inspections and

Three-dimension Modelling

Albatroz Engineering www.Albatroz-eng.com

About Us

Albatroz Engineering was founded in 2006. Since then, has been working closely with its customers

to provide innovative and cost effective solutions by investing in leading edge technologies and in a

highly trained and motivated engineering team, and by committing ourselves to rigorous R&D

principles and activities and to understanding the needs of our customers, with the intent to

develop targeted solutions. These may be built upon existing products or require the creation of a

new product. Products and solutions may be proposed to the customers in the form of purchase,

rental or services performed by Albatroz Engineering' team.

Albatroz Engineering is specialised in three fields:

Overhead power lines

Airworthiness certification

Three-dimension modelling

Albatroz Engineering can provide customised and integrated engineering solutions to help meet

overhead line operation and maintenance. Distinguished by its competitive price level and for

adapting its solutions to the characteristics of each customer, offering in that way a specialised and

unique service that meets the specifications and requirements in each case.

Albatroz Engineering has always been committed to innovation and development, and its R&D

teams include experts in robotics, reliability and remaining timelife, aeronautics and airworthiness,

software, time & space information management. All are dedicated to develop innovative

proposals and to constantly improve existing products.


Products and Solutions

PLMI (Power Line Maintenance Inspection)

The PLMI system was designed for airborne maintenance inspections of overhead line based on

helicopters with a crew of one pilot and one or two expert inspectors. PLMI has one airborne

segment and one office segment.

The airborne segment (sometimes named “on-Flight”) includes sensors, computing hardware,

mechanical supports to install all hardware in the helicopter and keep the crew safe, controlling

electronics, real-time processing and user-interfaces. The office segment (sometimes named “on-

Land”) was created for detailed analysis after the flight. It is composed mainly of software running

in regular office workstations.

Both "on-Flight" real-time interface and data and "on-Land" software read and write data from and

to geo-referenced databases which are, in turn, compatible with asset management database

systems.

PLMI empowers inspectors to perform multiple inspections in one single flight over the power

lines combining automated and human assessments including:

The customer defines the issues to be inspected and combines all sensor data into one common

digital recording. The system may be enhanced incrementally, beginning with a limited number of

features. Later, it is possible to add new features as needs arise.

Thermography

Corona

Inspection

Environmental inspection

(birds)

Clearance or right-of-way inspection

Visual inspection & asset inventory


Human driven real-time inspections offer optimal insight into installations. However, the number

of inspections or inspectors that can be carried simultaneously is limited. Thus, Albatroz

Engineering develops solutions combining human skills with signal processing to improve overall

performance.

LiDAR-based clearance (also known as right-of-way [ROW]) inspection is fully automated. It is also

highly valuable because it integrates with other inspections with dramatic savings in helicopter

operation costs. Depending on the characteristics of existing inspection routines, LiDAR can be

integrated with existing functions for 10% to 25% of the cost of inspection, which means a huge

gain value to customers with a modest increase in marginal costs. Although one can argue that the

clearance specifications are below other competitors’, the density of 3D clouds, the accuracy and

precision of measurements suit the needs of maintenance.

Some particular features of visual inspections, such as stork nest surveys, are also being

automated. In other cases, robotics and software assist inspectors to work efficiently. One airborne

inspection crew equipped with a PLMI system can oversee more than 15000 km/year of

transmission and distribution grids at a minimal cost and free from third party calendar

constraints.

Since November 2007, the PLMI system completed over 200 000km* of overhead lines inspected

with LiDAR with real-time automatic processing from 10kV to 400kV. This ranks the company

among the world leaders in length of lines inspected.

*Continuously increasing.


GMI (Ground Maintenance Inspection)

One of Albatroz Engineering’s values is proximity, which means to adapt to the customer

requirements and its operation environment. Since the early days of the PLMI system

development, the need for a ground system became apparent. Therefore, the company also offers

GMI which is an innovative, cost-effective approach to overhead power line (medium to very high

voltage) inspections.

The hardware is significantly different from PLMI and some of the inspection functions are

modified (for instance, doing thermography pointing upwards to the sky presents different

challenges of pointing downwards to the ground). However, many of the features of PLMI are

kept:

The inspection data can be visualised and verified through the user interface in real-time;

Once the inspection routine is complete, the system can generate a report that can be sent

to maintenance teams;

The inspection data can be uploaded to the same maintenance, asset and Geographic

Information System databases.

One client can operate simultaneously a PLMI system and a GMI system, depending on the needs

and characteristics of the grid, the terrain, the environmental constraints, and the value of each

section of the grid. Once in the maintenance system data are expressed in a consistent manner.

Moreover, a client can migrate from one solution to the other, without losing consistency in the

inspection data as the perceived value of inspections evolves.

The GMI equipment is fast and easy to use. Once the system is installed on the roof of a vehicle

using the supplied mounting accessories, and connected to the vehicle´s 12V D plug (24V optional)

the inspection crew can perform multiple inspections and register all relevant occurrences while

following the overhead line at low speeds..

One of the fields where the application of ground vehicles can be more interesting is in the

integration of inspection with maintenance and audit. Imagine a process of ground inspection

which incorporates not only maintenance works but also the replacement of signalling messages,

measurement of ground resistances and the cleaning of the supports basements. Or a process to


clean the vegetation on the lane line which includes a mini-LiDAR function to verify in real-time if

the recommended security distances are being maintained, auditing the maintenance process

when the effectiveness grows up.

The simplicity of low cost ground systems enables their installation in different types of vehicles

satisfying in this way different operational needs; wheeled vehicles can vary or be replaced by

airboats or quad-bikes. For all these reasons, PLMI was designed to source its energy from a 12V or

24V outlet and use minimum power. The image below shows an early prototype of the GMI

featuring:

GPS sensor to locate the data Laser sensor to measure distances Wide angle video camera to record

the inspections

Laptop used to show control interface,

store the data and produce the reports (not shown)

12V connector, current regulator and protections to power the system (not shown)

Accessories to fix the system to the vehicle (not shown)


Due to the flexibility of GMI system, Albatroz Engineering is currently perfecting its usage in two

different ways:

Adapting it to an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle or UAV, creating this way a system that

integrates all of the quality of this system together with the flexibility and manoeuvrability

of UAV equipment.

This allows a detailed and localized inspection, giving us the tools to:

Combating corrosion of medium

and high voltage cables;

Analysis of structural condition of

high tension towers;

Verification of signs;

Supervision of the physical integrity

of the insulators.

With the miniaturisation of technology, it was possible to create a small, lightweight

system enough to be transported manually thus allowing the user to access remote

locations to perform quality and rigorous inspections. This system is intended to be used by

an inspector carrying and operating all the equipment alone.

All GMI variants share the following basic features:

Automatic track clearance inspection software with obstacle detection including vegetation

and human-made structures;

Image recording and time-space synchronisation;

Real-time, recording of clearance Points of Interest (other features will follow);

Automatic report generation;

Data integration with databases and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).


Both PLMI and GMI were created in response to the needs of transmission, sub-transmission and

distribution utilities. In spite of all differences, they share common goals that Albatroz Engineering

addresses with its solutions:

Ensure the safety on the track using quantitative methods to monitor the width of the strip

along the line and the existence of obstacles;

Register and locate the detected nonconformities;

Preparing audit reports and analysing the evolution of the space-time on the line;

Deliver immediate information on the condition of the grid to dispatch centres and

maintenance crews, as well as information for maintenance planning for the years ahead.

Integrating multiple sensors and inspection procedures yields the following benefits:

Immediate inspection reports of critical issues on the field, just after the flight;

Modularity, as inspectors can operate decide autonomously which functions to use on

each installation according to the requirements of utility maintenance;

Data synchronisation associates all data streams with time and location through GPS;

Flexibility, it can incorporate the clients´ equipment into the solution, making the best use

of previous investments;

Comprehensive view of the installation, as all items are analysed in similar operating

conditions and can be compared with previous inspections to offer a better insight into the

hardware wear out;

Integration with information infrastructure associated to asset management and

geographical information system (GIS);

Leverage the best human expertise with the best of advanced robotics;

Integrates all types of inspection in one mission.

For more information please refer to our website www.albatroz-eng.com or contact

us through Luís Raposo at [email protected].

http://www.albatroz-eng.com/

mailto:[email protected]

albatroz engineering - engineering solutions for overhead line inspections and three-dimension...

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motivated engineering

overhead line inspections

effective solutions

targeted solutions

realtime inspections

airborne segment

office segment