Towards Inspection and Cleaning on Capacitor Towers: Design and Implementation of Multi-task Operation Robot

Abstract

Capacitors work in harsh environments, including strong electric fields, strong mechanical stress, and drastic weather changes for a long time. Solid, liquid, and gaseous dirt particles will be deposited on the surface of the electrical outer insulations, the electrical strength of the capacitor will be greatly reduced, and the health condition of the capacitor tower will deteriorate under the effect of harsh weather conditions, such as fog, dew, drizzle, and melting ice (snow). Based on the importance of the safe operation of substations, it is necessary to regularly evaluate the health condition of capacitors and complete operational tasks such as insulator cleaning, bolt tightening, and capacitance measurement. Considering the above situation and needs, we propose a solution of inspection and maintenance robot for capacitor towers in high-voltage substations by using automatic and intelligent technology to complete the above-mentioned tasks efficiently and reliably instead of manual work.