Boston Dynamics robots bring safety to National Grid converter station
USA, Massachusetts, Waltham: National Grid began exploring Spot, a robot from Boston Dynamics, for tasks at Sandy Pond Converter Station
Image source: T&D World
USA, Massachusetts, Waltham: National Grid began exploring Spot, a robot from Boston Dynamics, for tasks at Sandy Pond Converter Station
National Grid’s Sandy Pond High Voltage Direct Current Converter Station imports hydroelectric power from the north of Canada. It includes a thyristor valve hall is a building which converts direct current to alternating current at the station.
The view angles are limited and a person cannot get closer to active thyristors and because of the electrical hazard, so National Grid has decided to explore novel asset inspection solutions using the HVDC station as a pilot location. Robotics solutions, which can be deployed without putting humans in harm’s way, seemed like a natural solution for inspecting the valve hall without shutting it down. National Grid began exploring Spot, the quadruped robot from Boston Dynamics, as a solution.
A top priority at the facility is the monitoring of equipment conditions. Because the valve hall is water-cooled, any leaks could cause issues leading to equipment overheating and malfunction. While stationary cameras could detect signs of water leaks in certain locations, those cameras cannot to cover every angle of the valve hall.
With the optical zoom camera, Spot was able to inspect the equipment during operation. Just as importantly, the IR camera allowed the robot to detect “hot spots,” where the equipment is hotter in some areas than others.
Hot spots can also be caused by mechanical problems with bushings –places where electrical lines connect.
“Being able to have Spot do inspections controlled by human operators gives an extra layer of safety and extra layer of troubleshooting for technicians and engineers,” says Dean Berlin, lead technology analyst for National Grid.
This process would also allow National Grid to perform condition-based maintenance, rather than performing maintenance at set time intervals. Still, Berlin says that Spot’s highest value would be improvements in employee safety. “The safety of our employees is of the utmost importance,” he says. “So, if we can further remove them from harm’s way and still allow them to be efficient and effective, we are doing a good job.”
Source: T&D World