VIDEO: With vegetation drying out and little rain falling, even a small spark can spread quickly.
That’s where this technology comes in.
The Sentaero 6 drone can fly up to 30 miles from its operator, scanning power lines and nearby vegetation, and finding problems that could take crews weeks to spot.
Censys Technologies CEO Trevor Perrott said that with millions of miles of power lines across the country, the scale of the challenge is enormous.
“The power grid is about 7 million miles. There’s about 1,100 ignitions every year. So it’s kind of the ultimate needle-in-the-haystack problem,” Perrott said.
Fires can start when damaged equipment or overgrown vegetation comes into contact with power lines, especially during dry, windy conditions.
Unlike most drones, this one can fly beyond visual line of sight, covering far more ground than traditional crews, without sending workers into hazardous areas or relying solely on helicopters.