Research on the insulation ground wire gap switching device for transmission lines assisted by unmanned aerial vehicles

Abstract

To address the inherent contradiction in the required parallel gap distance of transmission-line insulated ground wires under lightning protection and ice-melting conditions, as well as the high safety risk and low operational efficiency associated with conventional manual gap adjustment methods, this paper proposes a UAV-assisted gap-switching device. The device adopts a cam–linkage–ratchet combined transmission mechanism as its core structure, supplemented by a spring-pin positioning mechanism, to achieve precise switching among three operating positions: grounding (0 mm), lightning protection (20 mm), and ice melting (80 mm). The reliability of the device was systematically validated through electric-field and mechanical-field simulations, together with high-voltage experiments. The results show that, under the 20 mm lightning-protection condition, the device can be reliably broken down under lightning impulse voltage; under the 80 mm gap condition, it can stably withstand a 40 kV DC ice-melting voltage, thereby effectively establishing the ice-melting circuit. The proposed UAV-assisted gap-switching device effectively reconciles the requirements of lightning-protection safety and ice-melting reliability for transmission lines, and provides an efficient technical solution for the multi-condition operation of insulated ground wires.