Research on UAV Three-Phase Transmission Line Tracking and Localization Method Based on Electric Field Sensor Array

The tracking and positioning of transmission lines is a key element for UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) to achieve autonomous inspection of transmission lines. Current methods are vulnerable to weather and environmental factors, have high costs, and have difficulties in data processing. Therefore, this paper proposes a transmission line tracking and localization method based on the electric field sensor array, which calculates the current UAV’s heading angle deflection angle, the distance between the transmission line and the UAV, and the elevation angle, providing a new idea to solve the problem of UAV inspection of transmission lines. At the same time, the electric field distribution of different arrangements of three-phase transmission lines was analyzed using COMSOL to determine the flight area of the UAV. By comparing the electric field distribution of the UAV flight area and single-phase transmission lines, it was verified that the current method is also applicable in the three-phase transmission line scenario, and it was further verified that the sensor array used can sense the change of the UAV position in the flight area, indicating that the electric field sensor array can realize the transmission line tracking and localization of transmission lines. The experimental results showed that, in the three-phase transmission line scenario, when the sensor array moves along the transmission straight wire, the maximum absolute error of the heading angle deflection angle calculated according to this method was 8.2°, the maximum absolute error of the distance between the array and the transmission line was 19.3 cm, and the maximum absolute error of the elevation angle was 11.37°; the error was within a reasonable range and can be used for the UAV to realize autonomous inspection.

Surface-Integrated Electric Field Sensor for the Detection of High-Voltage Power Lines

When a drone is used for inspection of facilities, there are often cases in which high-voltage power lines interfere, resulting in the drone being caught or falling. To prevent this type of incident, drones must be capable of detecting high-voltage power lines. Typically, a strong electric field is formed around the high-voltage lines. To detect the electric fields around high-voltage lines, this study proposes an electric field sensor that may be integrated within the body of a drone. In a laboratory environment, a voltage of 25 kV was applied to an overhead line, and the induced voltage in the proposed sensor was measured at various electric field intensities. Over an electric field range of 0.5 to 10.1 kV/m, a voltage of 0 to 0.77 V was measured with each proposed sensor. In addition, the electric field and the voltage induced in the sensor were measured in a real-world railway environment with overhead lines. Under these conditions, the proposed sensor has the compensated value of 4.5 when the measured electric field was 4.05 kV/m. Therefore, the proposed sensor may be applied in drones to measure large electric fields and to detect the presence of high-voltage lines in its vicinity.

A high-resolution electric field sensor based on piezoelectric bimorph composite

The rapid development of the internet of things (IOT) technology has led to great demand for intelligent electric field sensor (EFS). Several working principles have been proposed, however major challenges remain existed for the requirements of EFS with low-cost, large-range, and high-resolution. In this paper, an EFS based on piezoelectric bending effect using d31 mode is developed, where a bending strain is induced on the sandwiched bimorph structure of PZT/PDMS/PZT under an applied electric field, and the capacitance value of the PDMS layer reveals detectable variation. We demonstrate an electric field sensor operating at the stress-mediated coupling between piezoelectric ceramic and elastic dielectric polymer, which reveals advantages such as simple fabrication process, low-cost and low power consumption. Due to the sandwiched bimorph structure, the strain caused by the electric field can be effectively transferred to improve the resolution of the device. The constitutive equations for the sandwiched bimorph structure are built, and the working principle of the proposed EFS is demonstrated. The EFS exhibits high sensitivity under both AC and DC electric fields, with a resolution of 0.1V/cm in the range of -3 to 3kV/cm. The proposed sensor provides an alternative solution for power equipment fault diagnosis, power frequency electric field detection, etc.