The 'Kanatokhod' Robot Makes New Solid Steps Forward

09:46, February 18, 2020

A drone that will maintenance electricity lines goes through tests on the new grounds

Every month, automatic digital monitoring, maintenance and repair of electrical lines are becoming closer to full implementation and scaling. To accelerate this process, the developers of the Kanatokhod drone project built a new test complex on the territory of the Universitetsky technology park. This will allow them to test various modifications of the robotic complex in almost daily conditions under conditions as close as possible to real ones.

Currently the work is underway on the selection of diagnostic and repair equipment of the Kanatokhod (from Russian - 'Cable Walker'). The project is implemented by the innovative enterprise "Laboratory of the Future" led by the drone's inventor Alexander Lemekh. The 'Lab' is part of the Ural Interregional Science and Education Center of Advanced Industrial Technologies.

The drone allows you to remotely monitor and determine the places of possible damage on power lines. The Kanatokhod robot scans the route, builds a map, identifies defects, records and transmits data. It quickly eliminates power outages and reduces risks for electricians themselves.

According to the project manager, Director of the Laboratory of the Future Alexander Lemekh, the project is based on the idea of ​​creating a safe, reliable, efficient and smart energy.

“In a short time, we were able to introduce the concept and samples of technologies to domestic and foreign energy companies to revolutionize the electric grid complex,” says Alexander Lemekh. “An effective synthesis of advanced developments in the field of mechatronics, electronics, electrical engineering, digitalization and artificial intelligence allows us to bring to the world market a unique platform for predictive analytics and robotic maintenance of electrical networks.”

Alexander Lemekh also notes that the robot has a number of important competitive advantages. For example, the drone takes off directly near power lines, docks automatically on a broken cable or a ground wire, and moving along the wire, carries out diagnostics, maintenance and local repairs.

“As a result, the quality of controllability, the efficiency of electrical networks in terms of maintenance and technical re-equipment is significantly improved,” says Alexander Lemekh. - Increased security and improved working conditions for the personnel of network organizations. Mortality and injuries are excluded. In the future, the robot should become fully automated.”

The capabilities of the drone were presented to the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, and were also appreciated by the management of PJSC Rosseti. All this goes in favor of the prominence of the robot and its future large-scale implementation in the domestic and world markets.

Now “Laboratory of the Future” has begun its traditional annual project “Graduation 2020”. Each student can take a topic of interest and write a thesis based on the project 'Kanatokhod'. The peculiarity of this work is increased by its practical side and scientific novelty.