"The fiber optic cable repair has been completed, and the robot has successfully detached from the cable." Recently, in Niba Mountain, Yingjing County, Ya'an, Sichuan, workers successfully completed the live-line repair of the broken strand defect in the 500 kV Shiya Line 135 overhead fiber optic cable. This is also the first time that the Sichuan power grid has used "drone + robot" to complete the live-line repair of a 500 kV ultra-high voltage overhead fiber optic cable.
A drone was used to deploy a repair robot for live-line repair work.
It is understood that Niba Mountain is a high-altitude, cold region with complex and changeable weather. The 500kV Shiya Line 4 within its borders suffers from severe icing during winter and spring, especially affecting overhead optical cables which are prone to fatigue fractures or strand breaks due to icing. Recently, State Grid Sichuan Electric Power discovered a strand break defect in the overhead optical cable on tower 135 of the 500kV Shiya Line during icing monitoring. Based on climate conditions and test data, a comprehensive assessment was conducted, and it was decided to use a "drone + robot" device for live-line repair.
"This device consists of three parts: a large carrier drone, a small observation drone, and an intelligent repair robot. It can carry out efficient and precise line repair work under adverse weather conditions," said Yang Yang, deputy director of the State Grid Sichuan Ultra-High Voltage Ya'an Maintenance Branch. The operation took approximately one hour, reducing power outage time by about seven hours compared to conventional power outage maintenance, while also reducing high-risk operations and improving maintenance efficiency.
Live-line repair work was carried out. It is understood that the repair robot used in this operation is equipped with an intelligent system featuring image recognition and high-precision data transmission technology. This system can accurately identify the location and extent of strand breakage defects and transmit images back in real time. During the operation, personnel operate a small drone to locate the defect, and then remotely control a carrier drone to deploy the repair robot to the work site. The robot then performs patch-like repairs on the fiber optic cable, achieving precise "stitching."
