State Grid Zhenjiang Power Supply Company deploys robot for live-line repair

At 5 am on Aug 25, staff members from the State Grid Zhenjiang Power Supply Company used a "robotic worker" to urgently repair a damaged insulator on a 10-kilovolt power line. The robot, capable of precise wire stripping and insulator replacement, completed the task in just 20 minutes.

This marked the company's first use of a robot for live-line operations this summer. The robot features environmental sensing, target positioning, and autonomous path planning, allowing it to independently locate wires, plan work paths, and perform complex tasks with dual-arm coordination. Operators can remotely control the robot from the ground using a handheld terminal to carry out high-altitude wire stripping, wire grabbing, and dual-arm operations. This innovation has increased the efficiency of traditional live-line work by more than 60 percent.

"Traditional live-line work requires workers to wear multiple layers of protective gear and use a boom lift to reach high altitudes, which is physically demanding, skill-intensive, and dangerous. Now, remote-controlled robot operations enhance efficiency and safety," Fan Junyao, head of the company's live-line operations, said.

As live-line work technology continues to advance, its methods and applications have expanded. By the end of July, the company had conducted more than 50 live-line operations across a range of scenarios and needs, reducing power outage time by more than 500 hours and decreasing the average user outage time by 90 percent.