Project Details
[Return to Previous Page]Electrical Substation Vegetation Control Robot Docking Station
Company: FirstEnergy Corp
Major(s):
Primary: EE
Secondary: IE
Optional: CMPEN, ME
Non-Disclosure Agreement: NO
Intellectual Property: YES
PROJECT 2 – DOCK, COMMUNICATION, OPERATING STRATEGY (SUPPORTING INFRASTRUTURE AND DEPLOYMENT MODEL) Develop the supporting infrastructure and operational strategy for a vegetation control robot. Problem Statement: FirstEnergy has thousands of electrical substations across 5 states Substations are covered in gravel with an electrical ground grid to protect workers, weeds reduce the effectiveness of this ground grid and are a safety concern. FE spends millions of O&M dollars every year to have weed control contractors spray the substations to control/kill the weeds. A robot solution would reduce the O&M cost. One LF Capstone team is developing the robot. This team is developing the docking station to support it. Needs for the docking station project: A dock/garage that will protect the robot from weather and contain the robot through the winter months The dock/garage will charge the robot. The dock/garage will have indicator lights to notify the onsite personnel of low chemicals or other issues with the robot The dock/garage will have a "return home" button when worker's are in the substation - this will require communications between the dock and the robot The docking station team will need to closely coordinate with the robot team to ensure compatibility. Project team will determine the best strategy to deploy the robots in FirstEnergy's operating system, this could mean one robot per substation, or a portable robot/dock that can be deployed as needed. FE will provide raw data as requested by project team to ensure strategy is backed by quantitative modeling and analysis. Project team to provide cost/benefit analysis of operating strategies, research any environmental permits required for autonomous weed control robot, and deliver a prototype dock that can communicate with and charge a prototype robot from Project 1. This project will continue into the fall 2024 semester to fine tune operations and testing.
