SA Power Networks is using a robotic dog to inspect all of its assets. Sean Carroll finds out more about this side of man’s best friend.

The worst thing about taking the dog for a walk is that every now and again, it decides that a certain spot is ideal for the toilet. You have to bring some plastic bags and, when the need arises, take a curtsey.

But imagine if the dog did its own work? No, I don’t mean it’ll bring its own doggy bags, I mean what if it could do something else humans do, like inspecting power lines?

That’s what SA Power Networks is trying to do with its latest asset inspector, Spot.

Spot is a drone that walks on four legs and uses reinforcement learning (a form of artificial intelligence) to improve safety in the field and give the network another way to inspect their assets.

“We are adapting Spot to suit our organisation by using customised software and recording equipment,” SA Power Networks manager corporate affairs Paul Roberts says.

“Spot’s training is part of developing our skills and the software needed for both ground and air drones to patrol our assets in the future. We have about 88,000km of line, 670,000 Stobie poles, 400 zone substations and an awful lot of equipment.”

Spot walks around by itself (with a handler), finds its way between assets and takes multiples images of the Stobie poles, powerlines and transformers on the street.

And the drone is made to work in the field with crash protection, dynamic protection capabilities and the ability to self-right after a fall. It can run for around 90 minutes with a replaceable battery and can work in temperatures ranging from -20°C to 45°C.

“By pairing a robot or drone with a skilled asset management officer, the officer can apply their skills where they’re best utilised. The robot meanwhile completes the repetitive, basic tasks like collecting images,” Paul adds.

The final vision of the project isn’t to replace the operator altogether. Spot can take care of the mundane jobs while the operator can focus on the more skilled, qualitative tasks.

SA Power Networks is using the programmable application software development kit (SDK) to teach Spot how to complete the tasks they need it to do.

“This is our first piece of artificial intelligence (AI) driven robotics software that we’re developing in-house. We’re using a relatively new technique called reinforcement learning,” Paul outlines.

“Reinforcement learning for Spot is much like teaching a pet. In the same way as you give a pet treats to teach it a trick, Spot is rewarded with numbers when it does what we want. Spot’s training is like playing a video game. If it does a good thing, such as take a photo of a pole, it gets a positive reward, and if it does a bad thing such as go onto the road, it gets a negative reward. It is always trying to get a high score.”

Spot gets given geographic information like latitude and longitude and will be able to work out where to navigate. It comes with a high-res camera that can pan, tilt and zoom to take the photographs.

The reason SA Power Networks invested in a ground-bound asset inspecting solution is because current air safety regulations don’t allow the flying of drones beyond the pilot’s line of sight. Since the network wanted an automated solution and without overhead drones, a four-legged friend was the best alternative.

As Paul adds: “We are proud to be the first utility in Australia to use Spot for meeting our strategic goals. Our investment in developing the technology to suit our needs will not only improve safety and efficiency across our network but is a strategic investment in emerging processes and technologies.”

And there’s no need to bring a baggy…