Overview
Robotic train for inspection of the high-voltage power line connecting France and Spain
The line is 64.5 kilometers long, 33.5 in France and 31 in Spain, and crosses the Pyrenees thanks to an 8.5-kilometre tunnel in the central part of the route. This is an ambitious European project being developed by the mixed capital company INELFE (an acronym for Interconexión Eléctrica Francia-España, a company formed by the public electricity companies of each country).
The objectives of the interconnection between the two countries are to optimise the daily production of the power plants, to increase the opportunities to operate with renewable energies and to improve supply conditions.
Robotnik’s robotics solution
Robotnik has developed a robotic vehicle to automate the inspection service of the electricity interconnection tunnel between France and Spain.
The objective is to monitor the safety and reliability of this high-voltage power line, ensuring the good condition of the infrastructure.
The robot operates autonomously without requiring the intervention of people for the inspection tasks. The vehicle incorporates advanced sensors – vision cameras, thermographic cameras or gas sensors, for example – that provide information on the state of the installations inside the tunnel.
This robotic vehicle has the capacity to transport up to three people if necessary and up to 300 kg of equipment.
Challenges
The challenge in this use case was the development of a hybrid vehicle for inspection, maintenance and rescue inside a tunnel of these characteristics.
That is to say, to adapt the design of the robot both at hardware and software level to the climatic conditions of the environment with high levels of humidity.
For this reason, the vehicles have been equipped with the necessary sensors such as lasers for measurement, vision cameras, thermographic cameras and gas sensors, for example.
Use of robotics in an electrical interconnection tunnel