Systems and methods for inspecting structures with an unmanned aerial vehicle
AssigneeOsmose Utilities Services, Inc.
InventorsRichard Wayne Litton, Matt Gardner, Kevin Niles
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems and methods for inspecting or maintaining a structure, such as a utility pole or a metal tower), with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) are disclosed. The UAV can be configured to fly to a target location on the structure and measure characteristics of the structure such as a component thickness. The UAV can precisely repeat the measurement at a later time to determine any change in component thickness.
Claims20
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for inspecting or maintaining a structure, the UAV comprising:
- one or more rotor assemblies configured to provide lift and directional movement to the UAV;
- a non-conductive gap tool comprising a notched portion, a notch of the notched portion being configured to at least partially receive and smoothly slide along a conductor having an expected dimension;
- one or more controllers;
- and
- a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more controllers, are configured to:
- cause the one or more rotor assemblies to navigate the UAV to a conductor of the structure;
- and
- cause the notched portion of the non-conductive gap tool to align with a portion of the conductor to detect a smoothness of the conductor.
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for inspecting or maintaining a structure, the UAV comprising:
- one or more rotor assemblies configured to provide lift and directional movement to the UAV;
- a drilling assembly comprising a drill bit configured to drill or bore a hole into an object;
- one or more controllers;
- and
- a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more controllers, are configured to:
- cause the one or more rotor assemblies to navigate the UAV to locate and approach a targeted location of the structure;
- and
- cause the drill to drill an inspection hole at the targeted location of the structure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.