Protecting smart grid technology recruits

Since entering industrial society, human exploration of "artificial intelligence" has not stopped. Since the 1960s, with the rapid development of computer technology, research on intelligent robots has entered a substantive stage. After decades of development, intelligent robots based on sensory control (also known as second-generation robots) have reached the stage of practical application, and intelligent robots based on knowledge control (also called autonomous robots or next-generation robots) have made great progress. .

Electric power robots are special robots that serve the production of power systems and have one or more personification functions. They can replace or assist manual equipment inspections, live repairs, and maintenance operations. Its appearance depends on the rapid development of science and technology at home and abroad in the 20th century. Compared with developed countries, China's electric power robot research started late, and there is a big gap in the level of technology and practicality.

In the face of a huge potential market for electric power robots, the State Grid Corporation of China started from the actual production and aimed at the international advanced level to carry out core technology research. From research and development to industrialization, the electric power robot industry of the State Grid Corporation has gone through an unusual development path.

State Grid Shandong Electric Power Company relies on Shandong Institute of Electrical Engineering and is one of the units that developed electric power robots earlier in the country. In 1999, Shandong Academy of Electric Power began research on the core technology of “testing water” robots and established the “Key Laboratory of Power Robot Technology” (later named by the State Grid Corporation of China as “Key Laboratory of Power Robot Technology”). For more than ten years, the R&D of line live working robots, line inspection unmanned aerial vehicles, and insulator string detection robots have been carried out. The products cover the fields of power generation, transmission, power transformation, and distribution, and have established a technologically superior position.

Substation inspection robots are among the best in many products. Since 2000, State Grid Shandong Electric has included the substation intelligent robot inspection system into its scientific research plan. In September 2002, R&D projects in this area were listed in the national "863" plan and became the company's first "863" project. R&D personnel have overcome technical difficulties such as strong electromagnetic protection, navigation and positioning, equipment image pattern recognition, and automatic charging. The project was approved in 2005 and put into operation at the 500 kV Jinan Changqing Substation. According to Mu Shiyou, vice president of the Shandong Academy of Electrical Engineering, “The majority of domestic institutions’ research on the patrol robots in substations started after 2006. We started early, aimed at the international advanced level, and advanced technology research and development in key areas ahead of schedule. And reserve, this is our successful experience."

In October 2013, a good news came from the State Intellectual Property Office. The substation inspection robot developed by the State Power Shandong Power independently developed itself and won the gold medal in numerous entries in the 15th China Patent Awards. .

The use of robot inspections instead of manual inspections effectively reduces the cost of operation and maintenance and improves the automation and intelligence of inspection operations and management.

On April 14th, in the underground tunnel of Linshan Qingshanhu Technology City, Zhejiang, a small robot that looks very cute is “walking and walking”, with big eyes looking left and right, scanning up and down. The total length of the underground tunnel at Castle Peak Lake Science and Technology City is 1.1 km. It is the largest intelligent power cable tunnel in Zhejiang Province. At the end of March this year, the latest generation of wheeled patrol robots jointly developed by the Hangzhou Power Supply Company and Zhejiang University was officially put into use, injecting new intelligent energy into the spring inspection.

What are the benefits of robot inspection instead of manual inspection? Take this robot from Lin'an in Zhejiang as an example. It has high-definition visual inspection, infrared temperature measurement function, and can record and analyze visible light and infrared video. Different work requirements, no track travel within the cable corridor, automatic completion of regular inspections; also has an independent charging function, will automatically move to the default charge point for charging when the battery is low. The use of robots instead of manpower enabled the automatic and intelligent inspection of cable tunnels. It changed the backward way of manual inspection of tunnels, reduced labor intensity and ensured personal safety, and at the same time improved the work efficiency of cable tunnel maintenance work. And reliability, significantly reduce labor costs and improve economic efficiency.

Saving manpower and improving inspection efficiency are two prominent advantages of substation's intelligent patrol robots. In the 500 kV Dayuan substation in Fujian, past operation and maintenance personnel needed to spend more than one hour rushing from the station to the substation, and then began preparation work, temperature measurement, inspections, and it took 3 hours, in addition to manual analysis. Temperature measurement pictures, large workload, time-consuming and laborious. Nowadays, with the robot inspection system, the operation and maintenance personnel can leave their homes and issue patrol orders directly at the station. The robot can automatically collect patrol temperature measurement pictures and perform intelligent analysis. In a few minutes, the analysis result information or alarm signals can be transmitted. To the background, realize the remote fault diagnosis of the substation. It not only saves labor and vehicle costs, but also improves the efficiency of inspection and temperature measurement, and achieves a multiplier effect.

In addition, under adverse weather conditions such as low temperatures and haze, the robot can exert its role beyond human capabilities. On the eve of the Spring Festival this year, Chengdu suffered hazy weather for several days and visibility was less than 100 meters. In the Sichuan 500kV Jianshan substation of Sichuan Electric Power Inspection Company, the inspection robot “Xiaobai” can still complete the inspection task according to the set path, and walks 3 km within the station for 4 hours and stops at 800 points in more than 400 stations. Multiple inspection sites for equipment inspection of the entire station, real-time return of clear equipment video, pictures, infrared imaging temperature measurement video, data, automatic reading equipment meter, carry out remote inspections, special inspections, automatic generation of inspection reports and history Data trend curve. Fan Qiang, project manager of Sichuan Power Inspection Company's patrol robots, said: "The 'white' is within 20 meters from the equipment during the inspection. It is very clear about the equipment. Visible light detection will not affect it. It can also pass the image. Preprocessing and filtering techniques enhance photo sharpness; through three-phase contrast detection, infrared detection is also relatively accurate in severe weather; equipment noise is also collected and analyzed during inspections, and equipment failures are identified, even in hazy days. The accuracy of the test can be guaranteed," he said humorously. "The job of Xiaobai is very hard, and it is necessary to shake his head more than 1,000 times a day."

The use of robotic technology to perform inspections of substations can maximize the flexibility and intelligence of robot inspections, and at the same time overcome and remedy some defects and deficiencies in manual inspections, and are closer to the development of smart substations and unattended substations. The actual demand has great advantages. It is the development direction of smart substation and unattended substation inspection technology. “Substation intelligent patrol robots are used to replace the manual, emergency, difficult, dangerous, heavy, and repetitive tasks encountered in the inspection of substations. The actual application shows that the robot is reliable in operation, accurate in detection, and realizes all-weather, all-round, and full-scale operation of the substation. The independent intelligent inspection has effectively reduced the labor intensity, operation and maintenance costs, and improved the automation and intelligence of inspection operations and management. It has become the 'new backbone' of substations, said Mu Shiyou.

The power robot family has complementary functions and coordinated operations to better solve practical problems in power grid operation and management.

At present, the company's electric power robots cover all fields of power generation, transmission, distribution, and power transformation. There are more than 20 types of power robots, and the power robot family can be described as “a thriving person”. In recent years, the rapid development of the smart grid and the construction of the “Three Sets and Five Majors” system have created more market opportunities for electric robots. The company's substation patrol robot has been applied to substations with voltage levels ranging from 110 kV to 1000 kV, covering 22 provinces and municipalities such as Shandong, Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing and Sichuan.

In July 2013, the company proposed the target of popularization and application of substation's intelligent patrol robots, using intelligent robot patrol operations for more than 60% of manual operations in 3 years, and successfully researched and developed high performance, complete functions, and flexible configuration of instruments. The full range of robotic products in the middle and low grades; the full coverage of 500(330) kV and above substations; all provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) companies carry out centralized storage, centralized deployment, and centralized use of pilots for intelligent robots.

The industrialization promotion of electric robots is accompanied by the continuous upgrading of functions. Dr. Lu Shouyin, head of science and technology at Shandong Electric Power Research Institute, who returned from Japan to study abroad, said: “Although the robot we currently research and develop is far from people’s autonomous control, there are certain bionic functions such as perception, memory, and transmission. In this sense, our robots are gradually moving towards artificial intelligence."

As a leading team in the field of domestic power robot technology, experts from the Shandong Key Laboratory of Power Robot Technology also have an idea: to take full advantage of the company’s existing line of obstacle removal robots, line operations robots, insulator string detection robots and other technical advantages of different power robots. For the power supply companies to provide circuit inspection maintenance overall solution.

"UAVs have a significant advantage in the detection of high-altitude lines. They can accurately detect flaws that cannot be detected by manual inspection. Inspection patrol drones can 'see' but cannot go to battle to eliminate defects and breakdowns. This requires other robots. "Help." Guo Rui, chief expert of robotics at Shandong Electric Power Research Institute, said: "Different power robots have complementary functions and form a 'combat' advantage, they can better solve practical problems in power grid operation and management."

It can be predicted that electric robots in the future will have a broader space for development and application prospects.