Eversource is rolling out a program where it uses quadracopter drones to do some transmission-line inspections. As I note in my story (read it here) these are replacements for helicopter inspections because they have to flown within line of sight of the ground operator, and have a 20-minute battery life.
The coolest part to me is the camera on these drones, which are off-the-shelf commercial models costing $15K to $20K. They have a 30-times optical zoom (using a lens, not blowing up the digital image) and the demonstration video is astonishing at how closely they can look at high-voltage hardware while hovering.
Return to the Concord Monitor
Your first graf here says, “As I note in my story (read it here) these are replacements for helicopter inspections because they have to flown within line of sight of the ground operator, and have a 20-minute battery life.”
Is that what you intended?