The developer of an unmanned aerial vehicle for monitoring power grids Rope Walker in 2021 will enter a significant volume of work in Turkey, will start pilot projects in Saudi Arabia and Greece, said the director of the drone developer Laboratory of the Future, a participant in the EnergyNet market of the National Technological initiative (NTI) Alexander Lemekh.

The robotic complex Rope Walker allows you to monitor the state of the high-voltage power transmission line (PTL), to carry out some types of maintenance and local repairs. The peculiarity of this development is to work on the switched on line.

“This year we have completed a pilot project in Turkey, in the second quarter of 2021 we are preparing to enter significant volumes of work in this region,” Lemeh said.

At the same time, this year the company will start pilot projects in Saudi Arabia and Greece.

“We have entered into agreements with companies from these countries, we will start pilot projects in the first quarter of 2021,” he added.

As part of the pilot project The company, in partnership with CS Group, carried out a comprehensive diagnostics of a section of the Kayas-Imrahor 154 kV line of the Turkish power transmission corporation Enerji Elektrik. As a result of the work, several line defects were identified that could not have been determined by classical inspection methods, for example, damage to a lightning protection cable by lightning.

To carry out work on an overhead power transmission line using the Rope Walker, at the moment, two people are enough - a pilot and an engineer of diagnostic equipment. In the future, work will be carried out with the participation of only one remote operator. Comprehensive diagnostics includes magnetic, laser and video scanning of wires, lightning protection cable, supports and the adjacent territory (security zone of an overhead power transmission line).

The Laboratory of the Future company launched the Rope Walker project in 2011. The NTI EnergyNet market unites energy producers and consumers. The market's objectives include the consistent elimination of legal barriers to the development of technologies and products in the energy industry, including the segment of intelligent distributed energy, distribution networks, personal energy and consumer services.