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US 10,850,840 B2Granted
Drone and rover preplacement for remote autonomous inspection of utility system components
AssigneeFlorida Power & Light Company
InventorsEric D. Schwartz, Stephen S. Cross, Bryan M. Kitchener
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Unmanned monitoring devices, such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), drones or rovers may survey an area of interest (AOI) such an electric power distribution system including generation, transmission, and distribution elements to automatically determine components in the AOI to be monitored. Types, placements locations, and pathways taken by other unmanned monitoring devices to facilitate the monitoring of the components of the AOI are also automatically determined.
Claims20
A method, by an information processing system, of managing devices for autonomous monitoring of components within at least one area of interest, the method comprising:
- generating, utilizing at least a first mobile unmanned monitoring device, survey data of an area of interest comprising at least one system component to be monitored by one or more mobile unmanned monitoring devices;
- automatically identifying at least one system component of interest from the survey data;
- determining a first set of attributes of the area of interest based on the survey data, the first set of attributes comprising at least one of environmental attributes or geographical attributes of the area of interest;
- selecting at least a second mobile unmanned monitoring device from a plurality of mobile unmanned monitoring devices to monitor the at least one system component based on at least the first set of attributes a second set of attributes of each mobile unmanned monitoring device of the plurality of mobile unmanned monitoring devices, the second set of attributes comprising at least one or more operating attributes of the mobile unmanned monitoring device;
- selecting a placement location within the area of interest to implement the at least second mobile unmanned monitoring device based on at least the first set of attributes and the second set of attributes;
- and
- determining a travel path within the area of interest for the at least second mobile unmanned monitoring device based on at least the first set of attributes and the second set of attributes.
4 more elements
An information processing system for managing devices for autonomous monitoring of components within at least one area of interest, the information processing system comprising:
- a processor;
- memory communicatively coupled to the processor;
- and
- a monitoring device manager communicatively coupled to the processor and the memory that, when operating, is configured to:
- generate, utilizing at least a first aerial unmanned monitoring device, survey data of an area of interest comprising at least one system component to be monitored by one or more mobile unmanned monitoring devices;
- automatically identify at least one system component of interest from the survey data;
- determining a first set of attributes of the area of interest based on the survey data;
- select at least a second mobile unmanned monitoring device from a plurality of unmanned monitoring devices to monitor the at least one system component based on at least the first set of attributes and a second set of attributes of each mobile unmanned monitoring device of the plurality of mobile unmanned monitoring devices,
- wherein the at least second mobile unmanned monitoring device is an unmanned land-based rover;
- and
- select a placement location within the area of interest to implement the at least second mobile unmanned monitoring device based on at least the first set of attributes and the second set of attributes associated with the at least second mobile unmanned monitoring device.
8 more elements
A computer program product for managing devices for autonomous monitoring of components within at least one area of interest, the computer program product comprising:
- a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code comprising instructions for:
- generating, utilizing at least a first mobile unmanned monitoring device, survey data of an area of interest comprising at least one system component to be monitored by one or more mobile unmanned monitoring devices;
- automatically identifying at least one system component of interest from the survey data;
- determining a first set of attributes of the area of interest based on the survey data, the first set of attributes comprising at least one of environmental attributes or geographical attributes of the area of interest;
- selecting at least a second mobile unmanned monitoring device from a plurality of unmanned monitoring devices to monitor the at least one system component based on at least the first set of attributes a second set of attributes of each mobile unmanned monitoring device of the plurality of mobile unmanned monitoring devices, the second set of attributes comprising at least one or more operating attributes of the mobile unmanned monitoring device,
- wherein the at least second mobile unmanned monitoring device is selected over another one of the plurality of mobile unmanned monitoring devices based on determining the one or more operating attributes indicate the at least second mobile unmanned monitoring device is operable within the area of interest given the at least one of environmental attributes or geographical attributes of the area of interest;
- and
- determining a travel path within the area of interest for the at least second mobile unmanned monitoring device based on at least the first set of attributes and the second set of attributes.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.