# US 2020/0401138 A1 · Large scale unmanned monitoring device assessment of utility system components > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2020/0401138 A1 - Document ID: US20200401138A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 16/446,851 - Filed: 2019-06-20 - Published: 2020-12-24 - Earliest claimed: 2019-06-20 - Assignees: Florida Power & Light Company - Applicants: Florida Power & Light Company - Inventors: Iliana Maria RENTZ; Eric D. SCHWARTZ; Jeffrey D. DUBS - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20200401138A1 ## CPC - G05D 1/0094: {involving pointing a payload, e.g. camera, weapon, sensor, towards a fixed or moving target} - G06Q 10/06315: {Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis} - G01N 21/952: Inspecting the exterior surface of cylindrical bodies or wires (G01N21/956 takes precedence) - G01W 1/00: Meteorology - G05D 1/0027: {involving a plurality of vehicles, e.g. fleet or convoy travelling (fleet control of land vehicles from a control room G05D1/0297; traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/00; for marine craft G08G3/00; for aircraft G08G5/00)} - G05D 1/104: {involving a plurality of aircrafts, e.g. formation flying (traffic control systems for aircraft G08G5/00)} - G06Q 10/0631: Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations - G06Q 10/20: Administration of product repair or maintenance - B64U 2101/31: for surveillance - Y04S 10/50: Systems or methods supporting the power network operation or management, involving a certain degree of interaction with the load-side end user applications - G05D: SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES - G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR - G01N: INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES (measuring or testing apparatus or processes other than immunoassay, involving enzymes or microorganisms C12M, C12Q) - G01W: METEOROLOGY (radar, sonar, lidar or analogous systems, designed for meteorological use G01S13/95, G01S15/88, G01S17/95) - B64U: UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES [UAV]; EQUIPMENT THEREFOR - Y04S: SYSTEMS INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO POWER NETWORK OPERATION, COMMUNICATION OR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR IMPROVING THE ELECTRICAL POWER GENERATION, TRANSMISSION, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT OR USAGE, i.e. SMART GRIDS ## Abstract Large-scale unmanned monitoring devices, such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), drones or rovers capable of operating within environmental conditions not suitable for human personnel and lesser capable monitoring devices may inspect system components within an area of interest (AOI) such an electric power distribution system including generation, transmission, and distribution elements for autonomous detection of damage to the components. The large-scale unmanned monitoring devices may inspect the system components while the environmental conditions are occurring. Work orders for repairing the damage are autonomously generated and resources identified within the work orders are autonomously provisioned. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method, by an information processing system, of managing autonomous inspection of components within an area of interest, the method comprising: determining at least one environmental condition associated with the area of interest; determining if the at least one environmental condition one of fails or satisfies at least one environmental condition threshold for operating within the area of interest; selecting at least a first mobile unmanned monitoring device of a first type to autonomously monitor at least one system component within the area of interest based on the at least one environmental condition failing to satisfy the at least one environmental condition threshold; selecting at least a second mobile unmanned monitoring device of a second type to autonomously monitor the at least one system component based on the at least one environmental condition satisfying the at least one environmental condition threshold; and programming the selected at least first mobile unmanned monitoring device or the at least second mobile unmanned monitoring device to autonomously monitor at least one system component within the area of interest. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the programming comprises: programming the selected at least first mobile unmanned monitoring device or the at least second mobile unmanned monitoring device to autonomously monitor at least one system component while the at least one environmental condition is occurring in the area of interest. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, from the selected at least first mobile unmanned monitoring device or the at least second mobile unmanned monitoring device, inspection data generated thereby for the at least one system component; determining, based on the processing, a current operational state of the at least one system component; and autonomously generating, based on the operational state, a work order comprising a plurality of components addressing the current operational state of the at least one system component. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3, further comprising: autonomously provisioning one or more of the plurality of components for the work order. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, wherein autonomously provisioning one or more of the plurality of components comprises: transmitting a communication to at least one information processing system indicating that the one or more of the plurality of components have been assigned to the work order, wherein the communication further comprises instructions for the one or more plurality of components to be sent to a given location. ### Claim 6 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3, wherein autonomously generating the work order comprises: determining the current operational state of the at least one system component indicates the at least one system component has experienced damage; determining attributes of the damage; and determining, based on the attributes of the damage, one or more work crews required to repair the damage and at least one of a set of parts required to repair the damage, and a set of equipment required to repair the damage. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the programming further comprises: programming the selected at least first mobile unmanned monitoring device or the at least second mobile unmanned monitoring device with one or more inspection paths to be traversed thereby with respect to the at least one system component, and one or more inspection parameters. ### Claim 8 An information processing system for managing devices for managing an autonomous inspection of components within an area of interest, the information processing system comprising: a processor; memory communicatively coupled to the processor; and an inspection manager communicatively coupled to the processor and the memory that, when operating: determines at least one environmental condition associated with the area of interest; determines if the at least one environmental condition one of fails or satisfies at least one environmental condition threshold for operating within the area of interest; selects at least a first mobile unmanned monitoring device of a first type to autonomously monitor at least one system component within the area of interest based on the at least one environmental condition failing to satisfy the at least one environmental condition threshold; selects at least a second mobile unmanned monitoring device of a second type to autonomously monitor the at least one system component based on the at least one environmental condition satisfying the at least one environmental condition threshold; and programs the selected at least first mobile unmanned monitoring device or the at least second mobile unmanned monitoring device to autonomously monitor at least one system component within the area of interest. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The information processing system of claim 8, wherein the programming comprises: programming the at least one mobile unmanned monitoring device with one or more inspection paths to be traversed by the at least one mobile unmanned monitoring device with respect to the at least one system component, and one or more inspection parameters. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The information processing system of claim 8, wherein the inspection manager, when operating, further: receives, from the selected at least first mobile unmanned monitoring device or the at least second mobile unmanned monitoring device, inspection data generated thereby for the at least one system component; determines, based on the processing, a current operational state of the at least one system component; autonomously generates, based on the operational state, a work order comprising a plurality of components addressing the current operational state of the at least one system component; and autonomously provisions one or more of the plurality of components for the work order. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The information processing system of claim 10, wherein the autonomously provisioning comprises: transmitting a communication to at least one information processing system indicating that the one or more of the plurality of components have been assigned to the work order, wherein the communication further comprises instructions for the one or more plurality of components to be sent to a given location. ### Claim 12 (depends on 10) The information processing system of claim 10, wherein autonomously generating the work order comprises: determining the current operational state of the at least one system component indicates the at least one system component has experienced damage; determining attributes of the damage; and determining, based on the attributes of the damage, one or more work crews required to repair the damage and at least one of a set of parts required to repair the damage, and a set of equipment required to repair the damage. ### Claim 13 (depends on 8) The information processing system of claim 8, wherein the programming further comprises: programming the selected at least first mobile unmanned monitoring device or the at least second mobile unmanned monitoring device with one or more inspection paths to be traversed thereby with respect to the at least one system component, and one or more inspection parameters. ### Claim 14 A computer program product for managing devices for managing an autonomous inspection of components within an area of interest, the computer program product comprising: a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code comprising instructions for: determining at least one environmental condition associated with the area of interest; determining if the at least one environmental condition one of fails or satisfies at least one environmental condition threshold for operating within the area of interest; selecting at least a first mobile unmanned monitoring device of a first type to autonomously monitor at least one system component within the area of interest based on the at least one environmental condition failing to satisfy the at least one environmental condition threshold; selecting at least a second mobile unmanned monitoring device of a second type to autonomously monitor the at least one system component based on the at least one environmental condition satisfying the at least one environmental condition threshold; and programming the selected at least first mobile unmanned monitoring device or the at least second mobile unmanned monitoring device to autonomously monitor at least one system component within the area of interest. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the programming comprises: programming the selected at least first mobile unmanned monitoring device or the at least second mobile unmanned monitoring device to autonomously monitor at least one system component while the at least one environmental condition is occurring in the area of interest. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the computer readable program code further comprises instructions for: receiving, from the selected at least first mobile unmanned monitoring device or the at least second mobile unmanned monitoring device, inspection data generated thereby for the at least one system component; determining, based on the processing, a current operational state of the at least one system component; and autonomously generating, based on the operational state, a work order comprising a plurality of components addressing the current operational state of the at least one system component. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the computer readable program code further comprises instructions for: autonomously provisioning one or more of the plurality of components for the work order. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The computer program product of claim 17, wherein autonomously provisioning one or more of the plurality of components comprises: transmitting a communication to at least one information processing system indicating that the one or more of the plurality of components have been assigned to the work order, wherein the communication further comprises instructions for the one or more plurality of components to be sent to a given location. ### Claim 19 (depends on 16) The computer program product of claim 16, wherein autonomously generating the work order comprises: determining the current operational state of the at least one system component indicates the at least one system component has experienced damage; determining attributes of the damage; and determining, based on the attributes of the damage, one or more work crews required to repair the damage and at least one of a set of parts required to repair the damage, and a set of equipment required to repair the damage. ### Claim 20 (depends on 14) The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the programming further comprises: programming the selected at least first mobile unmanned monitoring device or the at least second mobile unmanned monitoring device with one or more inspection paths to be traversed thereby with respect to the at least one system component, and one or more inspection parameters.