June Technology Evening
The branch hosted its June Technology Evening at the Eskom Marketing Centre in Edgemead. The presenter was Professor Edward Boje from the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Cape Town. The title of the presentation was ‘Power Line Inspection Robot (PLIR)’.
In South Africa, there are about 27 000 km of power lines at transmission voltages of 220 kV and above. The lines are supported by towers approximately every 300 m. These lines and towers are inspected regularly by foot/vehicle patrols and by aerial (helicopter or fixed wing) inspections. Ground patrols have difficulty in inspecting all parts of the line because of difficult terrain, limited vantage and access restrictions. Airborne inspections are expensive, costing around US $200 per tower for close-in inspections.
Power lines are inspected for the following reasons:
* Check vegetation growing under the lines, profile, illegal structures, etc.
* Line: hotspots, strand damage, core, dampers, spacers.
* Insulators: UV and visible, tracking, pollution, cracks.
In collaboration with Eskom, Prof. Boje’s team (mostly a team at UKZN) is developing a power line inspection robot to provide reliable, cost-effective line inspections. The idea of developing a line inspection robot is not new and a number of efforts are underway around the world to develop such hardware. The competitive advantages of this PLIR include: light weight, the significant local market and the possibility of integrating the CSIR designed CoroCam multi-spectral camera.
The presentation also covered the technical issues related to the inspection task and the design of the robot. The branch would like to thank Prof. Boje for a wonderful presentation and sharing his wealth of knowledge in this cutting edge technology.
Industrial Expo 2013
The branch represented the SAIMC at the recent Industrial Expo in Cape Town. The stand was put together in a very short space of time and turned out to be a resounding success, with many delegates showing keen interest. The branch chairman would specifically like to thank the following people for making the SAIMC exhibition possible:
Mandy Prince the representative of the organisers (Impact Exhibitions): for pushing through and supporting the SAIMC’s exhibition application at such short notice.
Ina Maartens the SAIMC administrator: for volunteering to fly from her home in Johannesburg at short notice to represent the SAIMC at the expo.
John from the Cape Town Science Centre: for bringing the Mars Rover replica to the SAIMC stand and volunteering three days of his time.
Maclean Mguti for volunteering part of his Friday to man the SAIMC stand.
Next Technology Evening
The next technology presentation will be on Thursday, 15 August. Further details will be communicated via e-mail and the branch’s various social media platforms (LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter). Members can just search for SAIMC Cape Town. There is a lot of information being communicated through these platforms. Please join/like the SAIMC Cape Town pages/groups. For queries please contact Mothibi Thabeng: [email protected]
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