Netze BW tests autonomous airships for powerline inspections
Image courtesy Netze BW
German utility Netze BW is testing new techniques for inspecting overhead powerlines, including the use of autononous airships.
The EnBW Group owned DSO is working on a field trial with Enpulse Ventures GmbH, also a subsidiary of EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG, to use an airship as an alternative to the classic walking of overhead power lines by fitters and the use of helicopters and multicopter drones.
Enpulse supports young start-ups, one of which is roboloon, a spin-off from the University of Stuttgart. roboloon develops autonomous airship drones for inspecting linear infrastructure, such as power grids, pipelines and railway tracks.
This could support the monitoring and maintenance of such infrastructure efficiently, safely, cost-effectively and sustainably for the environment – with the help of high-resolution cameras that provide images of the condition of the systems.
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Netze BW says they are also interested in comparing it with multicopters that the network operator is already using.
While the multicopters are easy to handle, the airship offers significantly longer flight times. In addition, roboloon has managed for the first time to achieve multicopter-like maneuverability for its eight-meter-long airship – a crucial point for taking high-resolution images from the right angles.
The tests started Sunday with a first flight test over high voltage powerlines that run through the Friedenäcker area at the Böblingen model aircraft club’s airfield, which is operated by Netze BW GmbH.
Netze BW adds that the airship used in Gärtringen is not a Zeppelin, but a ‘blimp airship’. This refers to an airship that, unlike a Zeppelin, does not have a rigid skeleton.
A blimp airship gets its aerodynamic shape solely from the internal pressure of the gas, in this case non-flammable helium. This type of airship can be inflated and deflated like a balloon.
