Headline July 22, 2018/ " 'ROBUST -FLYING- ROBOTS' "

" 'ROBUST -FLYING- ROBOTS' "

MORE POWER TO THE DRONES : as the utilities have begun placing bets all around, but for so very sure on, Robots.

FLYING ROBOTS that can travel dozens of kilometers without stopping could be the next big thing for power companies.

Utilities in Europe are looking for long distance drones to scour thousands of miles of grids for damage and leaks in an attempt to avoid network failures that cost them billions of dollars a year.

However, the technology faces major safety and regulatory hurdles that are clouding its future in the  sector.

Snam and EDFs network subsidiary RTE have tested prototypes of long-distance drones that fly at low altitudes over pipe lines and power lines.

Italy's Snam, Europe's biggest gas utility, told Reuters it is trialing one of those machines - known as BVLOS drones because they fly "beyond  the visual  line of sight of  operations in the Apennine hiils around Genoa. It hope to have it scouting a 20 Km stretch of pipeline soon.

France's RTE has also tested a long distance drone, which flew about 50 Km inspecting transmission lines and sent back data that allowed technicians to virtually model  a section of the grid.

The company said it would invest 4.8 million euros {$5.6 million} on drone technology over the nest two years.

At present, power companies largely use helicopters equipped with cameras to inspect their networks. They have also recently started occasionally using more basic drones that stay within the sight of controllers and have a range of only about 500 meters.

However, an industry-wide shift toward renewable energy, and the need to monitor the myriad extra  connections needed to link social solar and wind Parks to grids, is forcing utilities to look at the advanced technology.

"It's a real game changer," Michal Mazur, partner at consultancy PwC, said of drones. "They're 100 times faster than manual measurement, more accurate than helicopters and, with AI devices on board, could soon be able to fix problems."

In-sight drones cost around 20,000 euros each and BVLOS ones that will cost significantly , according to executives at tech companies that make the machines for utilities, and a fleet of dozens  if not hundreds would be needed to monitor a network.

Power grid companies are expected to spend over $13 billion a year on drones and robotics by 2026  globally, from about $2 billion now, according to Navigant Research.

But this is dwarfed by the amount of money the sector loses every year because of  network failures  and forced shutdowns - about $170 billion, according to PwC.

REGULATORY RISKS

The growing demand from utilities is coming at a time of swift technological advances in civilian  long-distance drones.

The prototypes, which are about a meter long and wide, not only have aircraft systems but can avoid obstacles, detect other flying objects to hang gliders - while mapping grids with thermal and infrared  sensors.

However the future of these flying robots in the utility sector hinges on regulation.

The Honor and Serving of the latest Global Operational Research on Robots & Drones continues.

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"'  Robots And Realms "'

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