Power line inspection is an essential but costly task while automated UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) inspection can greatly reduce such costs. However, navigating along power lines is a challenging task due to the narrow width and limited features of power lines. Existing power line tracking methods have threshold selection problems and cannot work well for complex and changing backgrounds. We make use of power line specific knowledge to build a model to achieve predictive and continuous parameter selection so that the best thresholds are selected for changing scenarios. Experimental studies show that our solution is much better than existing ones. Specifically, we have built the first fully automated UAV that successfully tracks power lines in the real world.

Robust real-time UAV based power line detection and tracking

Although, several benefits can be offered by the consumption of marine products, the heavy metals bioaccumulation inside of their body can put the health of consumers at a high level of risk. In this context, however, the Persian Gulf contentedly is polluted by waste water, solid waste and petroleum activities residues, due to an increasing trend in consumption of fished aquatic organisms such as fish and shrimp, the safety of marine products is a source of concern. The current review was established in order tracing the metals concentrations in the muscle of fished shrimps from the Persian Gulf as well as conducting the health risk assessment. The reviewed literature was based on the internal and external databases. According to the results of 23 studies, the maximum and minimum heavy metals concentrations were determined as Zn (8.56 ± 34.68 μg/g) and Hg (0.08 ± 0.04 μg/g), respectively. Moreover, the heavy metal levels in the 32.5% of studies were higher than premiered limit by the WHO/FDA guide...

Risk assessment of heavy metals bioaccumulation: fished shrimps from the Persian Gulf

With the growth of the national economy, there is increasing demand for electricity, which forces transmission line corridors to become structurally complicated and extend to complex environments (e.g., mountains, forests). It is a great challenge to inspect transmission line in these regions. To address these difficulties, a novel method of autonomous inspection for transmission line is proposed based on cable inspection robot (CIR) LiDAR data, which mainly includes two steps: preliminary inspection and autonomous inspection. In preliminary inspection, the position and orientation system (POS) data is used for original point cloud dividing, ground point filtering, and structured partition. A hierarchical classification strategy is established to identify the classes and positions of the abnormal points. In autonomous inspection, CIR can autonomously reach the specified points through inspection planning. These inspection targets are imaged with PTZ (pan, tilt, zoom) cameras by coordinate transformation. The feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method are verified by test site experiments and actual line experiments, respectively. The proposed method greatly reduces manpower and improves inspection accuracy, providing a theoretical basis for intelligent inspection of transmission lines in the future.

A Novel Method of Autonomous Inspection for Transmission Line based on Cable Inspection Robot LiDAR Data

Performance of a vertical axis wind turbine in grid generated turbulence

Several studies have aimed to develop robotic systems which move in transmission lines. Until this moment, all of them have a high weight and cost associated with the equipment and reduced battery autonomy time. In this context, this paper aims to propose the POLIBOT (POwer Lines Inspection roBOT) with low cost and weight, enabling the movement over the lines and an easier installation and remove.,The designed robot uses the Profiles Manufacturing Methodology (PMM). The construction of the robot mechanical structure uses modularized aluminum parts built through square profiles. Thus, it’s possible a drastic reduction in production time as well as cost reduction and weight when comparing this method with other manufacturing processes like foundry, for example. For hardware and software systems, the use of free and open source software causes a significant reduction in cost and project execution time. The benefits of using open source systems are immeasurable, both from academic and industrial applications.,The POLIBOT platform is one solution to the problem of inspection in power lines. With this robot, more lines are maintained with lower time. In its constructive aspect, the robotic mechanism is designed using principles of bioengineering. The use of this principle was successful, considering that obstacle transposition is performed with stability and low energy consumption.,The suggestion for future researches is to replace the battery for solar energy and construction in polymeric material to avoid high magnetic fields.,The commercial application is evident because manual inspections are inefficient, very expensive and dangerous. Thus, it is growing the number of researches that develop mechatronics systems for this kind of inspection.,The impact is the reduction of accidents because the present procedure requires precision of movements, where the pilot and electrical technician are close to high electrical and magnetic fields. In addition, for some tasks, the worker has to walk on the line to reach some important points. Thus, those tasks involve high risk of death.,The PMM methodology represents an innovation to the state of the art because others robotic mechanisms proposed for inspection tasks present total structure mass between 50 and 100 kg and POLIBOT has only 9 kg. Other fact is its price for implementation as this robot used the robot operating system (ROS) framework, what dispense the use of licenses. Other important features are that the robot performs the tasks autonomously, which reduces errors introduced by the operator and its low manufacturing cost as compared with other projects.

POLIBOT – POwer Lines Inspection RoBOT

Simulation of oil pollution in the Persian Gulf near Assaluyeh oil terminal

Purpose – In this article, a detailed design of a novel power line inspection robot is studied. This robot can be used to move on ground wires for special purposes such as inspection and fault detection of electric power lines. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Designed active and passive mechanisms in the proposed robot enable it to move over various obstacles on ground wires, such as clamps, warning balls and mast tips. Indeed, this robot is the first designed robot with the capability of moving over all ground wire obstacles. The active mechanisms contain seven rubber-coated rollers (i.e. four vertical rollers and three horizontal rollers) as well as three mechanisms in order to make horizontal rollers move vertically. The passive mechanisms also include a set of spring-dampers installed in each joint of robot arms. Findings – The simulation results in the ADAMS software revealed a desirable stability of performance when moving on the ground wires with a maximum slop...

A novel design of inspection robot for high-voltage power lines

Oil spill simulation due to the wind and wave fields and tidal currents in the Persian Gulf by solution of the hydrodynamics and convection-diffusion equations have been presumed. Model consists of algorithms describing the processes of advection, surface spreading, horizontal and vertical dispersion, evaporation and emulsification. Tidal constituents have been obtained from co-tidal charts. Sea level and surface velocity has been determined by Kelvin Wave theory as a new hydrodynamic calibration tool to prepare flow pattern and successful speed-up procedure. Artificial wind field has been generated in order to prepare wind field time series in the accident interval. Performance of the hydrodynamic model for tidal currents in the Persian Gulf is examined and tested using measurement results by imposing tidal fluctuations to the main open boundary at the Hurmoz strait. The spill analysis model was setup using the flow field produced by the hydrodynamic model to simulate an accidental oil spill and its performance was further validated using the existing data at the Kish Island. Langevin equation for vertical dispersion has been calibrated for the considered domain. Comparison of the actual and simulated oil spill drift was found reasonably acceptable allowing for application in risk assessment analysis in the northern part of the Iranian waters.

Oil spill model based on the kelvin wave theory and artificial wind field for the Persian Gulf

Oil spill simulation due to the wind and wave fields and tidal currents in the Persian Gulf by solution of the hydrodynamics and convection-diffusion equations have been presumed. Model consists of algorithms describing the processes of advection, surface spreading, horizontal and vertical dispersion, evaporation and emulsification. Tidal constituents have been obtained from co-tidal charts. Sea level and surface velocity has been determined by Kelvin Wave theory as a new hydrodynamic calibration tool to prepare flow pattern and successful speed-up procedure. Artificial wind field has been generated in order to prepare wind field time series in the accident interval. Performance of the hydrodynamic model for tidal currents in the Persian Gulf is examined and tested using measurement results by imposing tidal fluctuations to the main open boundary at the Hurmoz strait . The spill analysis model was setup using the flow field produced by the hydrodynamic model to simulate an accidental oil spill and its performance was further validated using the existing data at the Kish Island. Langevin equation for vertical dispersion has been calibrated for the considered domain. Comparison of the actual and simulated oil spill drift was found reasonably acceptable allowing for application in risk assessment analysis in the northern part of the Iranian waters.

http://nopr.niscair.res.in/bitstream/123456789/10011/1/IJMS%2039%282%29%20165-181.pdf

Oil spill model based on the kelvin wave theory and artificial wind field for the

A comprehensive experimental study was carried out on the regular wave attenuation with a trapezoidal pontoontype floating breakwater (FB) in deep water. The functionalities of two simple FB geometries consist of a rectangle and a trapezoid with the slope of 60° were investigated under the wave attack. A two-dimensional wave flume was used in the experiment; the incident, transmitted waves, mooring line forces and motion responses of the floating breakwaters were measured. Also the influence of the sea state conditions (incident wave height and wave period) and structural parameters (draught of the structure) were investigated using the trapezoidal FB. Our experimental results indicated that the trapezoidal FB significantly reduced the wave transmission and mooring line force when compared with rectangular FBs. A new formula was developed in order to predict the value of the transmission coefficient in trapezoidal FBs with the slope of 60°. Experimental data showed to be consistent with the results of the formula.

M. A. Badri

Papers

Simulation of oil pollution in the Persian Gulf near Assaluyeh oil terminal

A novel design of inspection robot for high-voltage power lines

Oil spill model based on the kelvin wave theory and artificial wind field for the Persian Gulf

Oil spill model based on the kelvin wave theory and artificial wind field for the

Experimental Study of Wave Attenuation in Trapezoidal Floating Breakwaters