Obstacle Avoidance Method for Autonomous Driving of Robots on Bundled Conductors

Abstract

Conventional inspection robots used for power transmission lines (PTLs) must have the ability to avoid obstacles placed on the line in order to navigate along bundled conductors. However, conventional robots were designed to be suitable for driving along a single line and could not be driven on bundled conductors. In this study, we propose an obstacle avoidance method for the autonomous driving of robots on bundled conductors. In addition, the prototype of the robot was implemented based on the simulation results to verify the validity of the proposed obstacle avoidance method. The driving performance of the robot prototype was confirmed via experiments conducted on two-conductor bundles. According to the experimental results, the robot prototype achieved autonomous driving by avoiding obstacles such as spacers on two-conductor bundles. This confirmed the validity and possibility of the proposed obstacle avoidance method being applied on bundled conductors.