Research & Technical Content

Evaluation of Substation Inspection Robotics Platform in Lenox – Test Plan
The robots chosen to be evaluated are based on features that fulfill the requirements for 24/7 substation asset inspection. It is important that the robots can self-charge and able to handle obstacles along its inspection path. The aim of a substation inspection robot is to have a robot in a substation environment look for abnormalities on substation assets such as example hot bushing connection, transformer overheating, leaking oil, check monitoring status etc. Based on the testing and evaluation in Lenox, one robotic platform may be further assessed to add additional sensors on that are important to have on an asset monitoring robot. All robotic platforms evaluated in Lenox are able to add additional payload.

Testing Results - Quick update videos
Based on the listed features, four robotic vendors were invited to Lenox, to test their robot solution for one week that includes staged defects, obstacle avoidance testing, night testing, etc. The four vendors were:

• Spot from Boston Dynamics

• ARIS from NV5

• V60 from Ghost Robotics

• Sentinal from Indro Robotics

Payload Evaluation - Test Plan
The goal is to ensure successful integration between the Spot’s systems and the SV600 payload. The test plan will attempt to capture data manually and autonomously.
Functionalities related to the data communication, cloud reporting, and payload’s AI predictions will be tested.

Quick Video Updates

• Outdoor Robot testing in Charlotte for repeatable inspection – 2023

• Payload Integration for Partial Discharge and Air Leak detection

• Indoor Robot testing in Charlotte for repeatable inspection - 2023