Transmission line inspection robots: Design of the power supply system

Abstract

This work aims to develop a power supply system to use with the RIOL robot, useful for inspecting high voltage overhead power lines. The power supply operating principle is based on the harvesting of the magnetic energy around the power supply lines by clamping a transformer around the line. A switching power rectifier, controlled to emulate a resistor, is then connected to the transformer secondary to obtain the robot needed voltages (55V ± 2.5%) and power (800W). Simulation results are presented and discussed.