Drones and RFID tags utilized for efficient inspection in Xixia

In Xixia district of Yinchuan city, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, a drone is scanning the RFID tags on electrical equipment, collecting the required information, and transmitting it to the local power supplier.

The State Grid's Xixia Power Supply Co started to utilize such drones and RFID tags to inspect the power grid at the end of 2022, which has significantly improved its work efficiency and lowered labor costs.

A radio frequency identification tag, or RFID tag, is an electronic tag that exchanges data with an RFID reader by using radio waves. It could help identify an item, track its location, and record its movement.

The company said currently all local utility poles, transmission towers, transformers and ring main units are equipped with RFID tags, which has made the management and deployment targeting them more efficient and accurate.

Meanwhile, the company said it had equipped the drones with high-resolution cameras and RFID readers, as well as constructed an online system to aggregate all the data concerning local electrical equipment.

During the inspection process, the drones could first understand the equipment's operation status by reading the RFID tag and then compare it with the historical data in the system, so as to effectively identify the hidden hazards, said the company.

The company currently has 12 professional drone operators who have so far performed a total of 4,015 inspection missions.