PECO UAS Programenergypa.org/assets/files/2019/March 11-13... · PECO Drone 101 Lingo • UAV =...
Transcript of PECO UAS Programenergypa.org/assets/files/2019/March 11-13... · PECO Drone 101 Lingo • UAV =...
PECO UAS Program
EAPA T&D Committee
March 12, 2019
Aileen Gallagher
Engineer
Investment Strategy R&D
PECO Drone 101
✓ Lingo
• UAV = unmanned aerial vehicle
• UAS = unmanned aerial system
---> DRONES
✓ By the numbers
• 5 drones (4 in OHT; 1 in distribution)
• 8 certified pilots
• 45+ missions to date
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PECO Drone Status by System3
Transmission
Regular use for spot inspections
Second look at potential issues identified from an inspection
Distribution
Piloting applications to identify best
value
Looking for ways to improve
circuits with reliability issues
Gas
Investigating initial pilot
Does it make sense to inspect any of our gas
mains with drones?
4So you want to use drones… where to start?
1. What are our goals?
2. Who should be on the team?
3. What does it mean to be a ‘PECO Qualified’ pilot?
4. Where does it make the most sense?
5. How to operationalize?
1. Define the goals
✓ What are you trying to do?
✓ Why are you trying to do it?
✓ Who will it benefit?
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2018 Proposed Goals
Support PECO Operations, Reliability, Standards, and Vegetation Management ability to enhance system management. Specifically:
✓ Continue to conduct OHT spot inspections
✓ Get 4 pilots licensed (1 per region + 1 in Central Engineering)
✓ Target 15-20 asset inspections in 2018
• Standards Audits (summer critical, winter critical, Hendrix) -> 6-8
• TPCs (identify flyable circuit on monthly TPC call) -> 10-12
• Visual inspection only for now
✓ Define “PECO UAS Qualified”
✓ Promotional materials for R&D projects
✓ Provide asset images to UAS working groups (e.g., EPRI), to support development of asset health intelligence
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2. Pick the team
✓ Who could leverage a drone?
✓ Who’s interested in pursuing a drone license?
✓ Who could identify operational concerns?
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8PECO UAS Organization
Distribution
Lead: R&D Engineer
✓ Regional Engineers
✓ Distribution
Supervisor
✓ Gas Engineer
✓ Addt’l team
members: Central
Eng. Engineers,
Regional Engineers,
Application Support,
AeroLabs
Gas
Lead: Gas Engineer
PECO SPOC: OHT Engineer
OHT
Lead: OHT Engineer
✓ UG Transmission
Supervisor
✓ OHT Foreman
✓ Aerial Lineman
Phone a friend
✓ Exelon has a monthly UAV working group
• AeroLabs
• Exelon Utilities
• Exelon Generation
• Legal, IT, GIS, Security, etc.
✓ Industry groups & meetings (e.g., EPRI)
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✓ What testing do pilots need to complete?
✓ What capabilities should pilots demonstrate before they
can fly around live assets?
✓ What training do the pilots need?
3. Outline the qualifications
Minimum requirement: FAA Part 107 License11
Applicable for commercial drone use (e.g., any use by a utility)
✓ Background check
✓ Aeronautical knowledge exam
• General regulations
• Interpreting airspace & charts
• Aeronautical decision making
• Weather
• Airport Operations
• UAS Best Practices
Licensed ≠ Ready to Fly for PECO
✓ The licensure exam is written only
✓ With a limited number of part-time, in-house pilots, opted
for an external vendor to conduct training
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Training Experience
✓ Selected a vendor who conducted utility-specific training
✓ Three days at PECO Line School –
• Day 1 – classroom-based – drone care best practices,
electromagnetic interference Q&A, emergency procedures, etc.
• Days 2-3 – hands-on – basic flight maneuvers, flight without GPS,
photography best practices, etc.
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4. Demonstrate the value
✓ Avoided hazards
✓ Crew hours saved
✓ Helicopter flights avoided
✓ Potential outages prevented
✓ Promotional materials
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15We’ve done spot inspections
Save time and reduce risk in conducting tower avian inspections
Extent of condition assessments16
Damage noticed on OPGW line – how much of the rest was damaged?
Storm Damage Assessments 17
Faster, safer response after a Nor-Easter
Technology demonstrations18
Substation thermography inspection provided actionable information
And even promotional shots19
http://davesalbum.com/Panos/Plymouth/Plymouth.htm
PECO Line School
But drones don’t make sense everywhere20
PECO supported a mutual assistance request in a veg-heavy area
Would a drone really add value here?21
Post-construction standards audit
The aerial view does help in some cases22
But what next?23
How do we integrate drones into our daily operations?
5. Operationalize
✓ Who do we need to notify before we fly?
✓ Where should we store the drones?
✓ How do we make this new tool accessible?
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Check[list], please
✓ Airspace & weather checks
✓ Internal notifications
✓ IMSAFE checklist (fitness to fly)
✓ Battery life
✓ Site-specific precautions
✓ Post-flight notifications
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What do we tell our customers?
✓ Pamphlet in the works –
PECO Drone Inspections
An Introduction to PECO’s Newest Workforce
• Benefits
• Basic safety
• Do’s and Don’t’s
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Current Challenges
✓ Will drones provide value to our PM program?
✓ How do we organize around UAS for storm response?
✓ With a limited number of (part-time) in-house pilots, where
best to focus time?
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28Questions?
Appendix
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Proposed Distribution Team 2018 Timeline30
✓ January – Assemble team
✓ February-March – Get 3-5 PECO personnel Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) Licensed
✓ April – Conduct test flights & demo at a PECO facility
✓ April-December – Conduct 15-20 asset inspections
✓ December – Make recommendation on future UAS
purchases (e.g., one per region) & 2019 plans
Actual Distribution Team 2018 Timeline31
✓ January-February – Assemble team
✓ March-June – Got 3 PECO personnel Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) Licensed
✓ June-August – First two missions flown*
✓ June-December – Discussions, IT approval, and
scheduling of hands-on training
✓ September-October – 2 more PECO pilots licensed
✓ December – Held practice flight time sessions for new
pilots; made recommendations on 2019 plans
*Pilot already had non-PECO experience