On the application of VTOL UAVs to the inspection of power utility assets

This paper presents a review of the state of the art and a discussion on vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) applied to the inspection of power utility assets and other similar civil applications. The first part of the paper presents the authors' view on specific benefits and operation constraints associated with the use of UAVs in power industry applications. The second part cites more than 70 recent publications related to this field of application. Among them, some present complete technologies while others deal with specific subsystems relevant to the application of such mobile platforms to power line inspection. The authors close with a discussion of key factors for successful application of VTOL UAVs to power industry infrastructure inspection.