In the power equipment exhibition area of the World Manufacturing Conference, a bright yellow hexapod inspection robot steadily crawls on the simulated pipeline wall, firmly sucking on the vertical pipe wall with suction cups, and hanging upside down to complete a defect recognition demonstration, attracting many viewers to stop. This intelligent equipment, specially designed for high-risk power scenarios, is transforming the narrow and enclosed spaces that were previously inaccessible to humans into a normalized inspection area for robots.

In the past three years, the compound annual growth rate of the domestic power inspection robot market has remained above 30%. This year, the bidding volume for special foot type inspection equipment has surged by 189% year-on-year, and the customized demand for narrow and high-risk scenarios has exceeded the general inspection demand for the first time. In the past, scenarios such as cable tunnels, enclosed flues, and vertical pipe walls not only had low efficiency in manual inspections, but also constantly faced high risks of poisoning, falling, and electric shock, which have always been pain points and blind spots in power grid operation and maintenance.

The new hexapod inspection robot adopts a stable configuration of three legged alternating landing, equipped with end suction cups, which can operate stably on vertical pipe walls and suspended ceilings, fully adapting to narrow and enclosed spaces that traditional wheeled and quadruped robots cannot enter. The 2.5-kilogram lightweight body is equipped with a laser radar, infrared sensing, and voiceprint acquisition module. It is connected to a large power model through a 5G quantum encryption link, and can generate preliminary disposal suggestions within 10 seconds after discovering hidden dangers. It can also work in groups of multiple machines, and the efficiency of single tunnel inspection is three times higher than that of a single device.

At present, there are over 1200 substations equipped with ground mounted inspection equipment in China, and the progress of unmanned replacement in special scenarios is significantly accelerating. These small robots that can fly over roofs and walls are completely replacing power operation and maintenance personnel from the most dangerous work sites.Editor/Cheng Liting