Robotics in Power Systems: Enabling a More Reliable and Safe Grid

Power systems face numerous challenges to address the growing need for sustainable energy worldwide. Several tasks directly focused on power systems operations can be either partially or completely automated by an unmanned or teleoperated robotic system. Robots can improve efficiency, reduce labor costs, and, most importantly, avoid operational risks, since power plants and transmission lines are hostile environments for humans. Although there has been some preliminary development of robotic applications in several tasks related to power systems, the technology is still undergoing research and development; it is highly dependent on the nature of the tasks to be performed, and a unified framework of applications does not yet exist. The aim of this article is to present the main contributions from the robotics field to the inspection and maintenance of power systems through the analysis of state-of-the-art and current advances, thus providing the reader with a comprehensive and insightful analysis of implemented examples and future trends.