Innovative drone-based technologies provide novel techniques to guarantee the safety and quality of power supply and to perform these tasks more efficiently. Electric multirotor drones, which are at the forefront of technology, face significant flight time limitations due to battery capacity and weight constraints that limit their autonomous operation. This paper presents a novel drone charging station that harvests energy from the magnetic field present in power lines to charge the drone’s battery. This approach relies on a charging station that is easy to install by the drone on an overhead AC power line without modifying the electrical infrastructure. This paper analyses the inductive coupling between the energy harvester and the power line, electrical protection, the power electronics required for maximum power point tracking and the mechanical design of the charging station. A drone that perches on a cable, an end effector for installation procedures and the charging maneuver are described, along with discussion of the robotic and electrical tests performed in a relevant environment. Finally, a lightweight drone charging station capable of harvesting 145 W of power from a 600 A line current is reported.

This paper shows how different types of novel aerial robots with new functionalities can cooperate in the inspection and maintenance (I&M) of power lines, one of the largest and most essential civil infrastructures in any country. This study relies on the results from the AERIAL-CORE research and innovation project. The paper describes an I&M validation scenario and evaluation metrics for three linked operation domains: 1) long-range inspection for the detection of possible damages on power lines in a post-storm scenario, 2) aerial manipulation for the installation of devices on power lines, and 3) aerial co-working to help human operators in their activities at height. It presents the demonstration of ten different aerial robots in a real scenario with 10 km of power lines. The platforms include morphing-wing and VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles), multi-rotors, and aerial manipulators. These platforms, custom-developed or commercially available, are evaluated in the three application domains, describing the new functionalities implemented for each case. The paper ends with guidelines, design principles, and lessons learned for future developments derived from the final demonstration of the project.