Design and Development of Three Arms Transmission Line Inspection Robot

Abstract

The high-voltage transmission line had been used primarily for power distribution from power plant or power station to the end users. However, the transmission line is highly prone to damage due to exposure to various thermal—mechanical loadings and material degradation. Therefore, periodical inspection on transmission line after prolonged service is needed to prevent any failure before it happens. In this paper, we present a new design of three arms inspection robot for transmission lines. The robot is able to transverse along the line and bypass the in-line obstacles namely the anti-vibration hammers, spacer, strain clamps and others. The design of the inspection robot in term of the robot design and configuration with slotted cam at each arm is presented. The detailed analysis via simulation with respect to the robot stability; kinematic and movement analysis; and power consumption during operation is executed to make sure the proposed design able to do the inspection without any unexpected difficulties. Later, the lab testing on the developed prototype is done for feasibility study and validation.