Two examples of specific situations for which the drones are being developed are the installation of bird diverters and spacers, both on high-voltage power lines. We want to build an aerial robot that can easily switch between flying mode and working mode.” Installing bird diverters and spacers “Carrying out physical operations requires a different configuration of motors and propellers than when the robot is simply hovering or approaching. “The drones perform physical interaction tasks, but also spend a lot of time flying to their destination,” explains Sablé. Quentin Sablé, mechatronic engineer within the UT’s RAM research group, is also analysing the energy consumption of the robots. They are also looking into augmented reality solutions that can help the human operator to follow the movements of the aerial robot. “We are looking at sensors that can monitor human movements and translate these into commands for the robot,” explains PhD student Amr Afifi, who is collaborating on the project. The robots must also be able to interpret the operator’s actions. The robots have to physically interact with humans at great heights, whereby safety, ergonomics and optimum performance of the tasks are essential to the cooperation. The UT researchers are focusing primarily on improving the cooperation between the drones and their human operators. Human-robot interaction is also an important part of the project.” Cooperation and energy consumption The drones have robotic arms that can exert sufficient force while hovering in the air. In the future, human technicians will be able to leave dangerous maintenance tasks up to these drones and coordinate the work from the ground. They can inspect infrastructure over long distances, but also carry out very precise and localised maintenance. “The drones are programmed with skills that are unique in the world for this type of robot. Antonio Franchi, a well-known name in the field of international aerial robotics, is a work package coordinator in the AERIAL-CORE project on behalf of the University of Twente. He joined UT and the RAM research group a year ago. “In this project, we are focussing on new robotic technologies for the inspection and maintenance of large-scale infrastructure,” explains Franchi. There may also be uses for drones in the Netherlands. The Spanish energy company ENDESA is one of the ten partners in this project and will deploy the drones in practice. This is the largest European research budget ever in the field of aerial robots. The European Commission’s Horizon2020 research programme is investing €8.6 million in the project. The University of Twente is cooperating with nine partners in the European AERIAL-CORE project to develop an innovative platform for robots that can carry out inspection and maintenance work at great heights, for example on high-voltage power lines or wind turbines. The robots will initially be used for the high-voltage infrastructure in Spain. The UT Robotics and Mechatronics (RAM) lab has now built a working prototype that will soon be tested on high-voltage power lines. The installation of bird diverters and spacers on these lines is still done by humans and is life-threatening work. More complicated designs, he says, "are on the horizon.The University of Twente is developing drones that will make high-altitude work on high-voltage power lines safer and more efficient. "We experimented a little with flapping robots," Moore notes, but adds that researchers decided to keep things simple. "If we can measure the wind, we can use the wind to improve the mission duration of our vehicle," he says. The team is also looking at biomimetic features, such as hair-like sensors running along the wings of the UAV to measure airflow. For example, the lab will need to partner with mechanical design experts to develop a complex grasping mechanism. In the meantime, there are a few outstanding issues to address. The MIT project, which is funded by the Office of Naval Research, Air Force Research Laboratory, and DARPA, is set to wrap up this summer. Finally, the drone could harvest energy from the electrical coronas formed by very-high-voltage lines. Alternately, a UAV could pierce the line and draw current directly from it. First, there is inductive coupling, whereby the drone's claws form a transformer around the electrical line. He does, however, outline three basic options. Moore won't go into great detail about the recharging process because the MIT team has yet to patent its solution. However, the magnetometer has a range of only four meters total, so a real UAV operating in the field would need to depend on GPS points gleaned from satellite imagery reach the general vicinity of a power line. In these tests, the small drone was only 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) from the power lines when launched.
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