Getting on the Grid: How Street View Helps Energy Companies
Power Grid Management
The way the United States has established its energy grids requires that energy providers monitor and maintain the core components of their grid, which include the power plants, the transmission of power, and the delivery of power to energy consumers.
This ongoing work legally demands that companies conduct field studies to collect their assets, perform checks on inventory, and provide maintenance to any grid elements that need updates or care. The most familiar scene is power companies safely and carefully managing their power lines via power poles on the sides of nearly every road and city in the country. To date, manual inspection is the most common method of inspecting and maintaining power grids, but with the help of Advanced Online Insights, the future of power grid management is on the cusp of change.
The Future of Power Grid Management
Together with our partners at Autori, Advanced Online Insights is helping energy companies develop a sustainable and efficient management practice. Using a data-driven approach to understanding the maintenance needs of a power grid, our team is reimagining a more effective plan to inspect and maintain power grids, reducing the need for manual inspections and relying on the advanced technology of Street View on Demand to maintain updated assets.
Street View on Demand
Advanced Online Insights currently offers the technology needed to deploy our Street View on Demand services to capture the visuals required for a maintenance inspection. State-of-the-art cameras and photography equipment would enable power companies to get upwards of 80% of the images they needed to perform visual maintenance checks. Using our Street View on Demand service, our team could drive the streets, roads, highways, and routes that currently host energy lines and capture the images of the power poles and lines. In a matter of hours, we can capture the visuals that would take a team days to do by the current manual check. The efficiency could save hundreds of working hours and thousands of dollars by reducing the need for multiple team members to drive the same routes. In addition, our technology would grab historical data for the energy companies to keep on file. With geo-data and metadata embedded in the imagery, creating an updated and historical record of power lines would be simple.
Powering A New Level of Visual Maintenance
Advanced Online Insights leverages our team of experienced drivers to capture footage using our leading camera equipment and fleet of vehicles. Once the drivers have captured the data (ie, photos), we upload the data to the Autori platform. The cloud computation will take the data and then process, place, and publish it to the map making it viewable imagery. This allows for a rapid delivery of data to our customers, creating a historical record as well as providing the visuals needed to clearly indicate any areas that need additional service or maintenance.
Understanding Real Life Scenarios: Post-Tornado Pole Checks
Power companies across the country use power grids, or energy grids, to move energy from power plans to companies, homes, and communities across the country. On a daily basis, it’s easy to forget about all of the work happening to get power to your home and/or office. But as the nation witnessed during winter storms in 2021, the interruption of power or the failure of a power grid can be devastating.
Why is this technology so necessary? Consider what communities can look like after a devastating tornado or other natural disaster has ripped through the area. In many cases, there is only wreckage and debris. There are no visual cues of where power poles once were, except for the downed and potentially dangerous lines.
Having a historical record and visual of where power poles once stood could enable a power company team to assess damage much faster by quickly identifying the locations of power poles and other elements of the power grid. The visuals can also help pre-plan in the event there is awareness of an incoming storm that would put certain portions of the grid at risk. The quicker the team can react, the faster people, homes, and communities can be restored.
The future of power is changing, and Advanced Online Insights is prepared to help lead the way. For more information on how we can support your company or industry, contact sales@advancedonlineinsights.com to be connected with a member of our team who can serve you best.