Citation: Gao, Y.; Yang, J.; Zhang, K.;
Peng, H.; Wang, Y.; Xia, N.; Yao, G. A
New Method of Conductor Galloping
Monitoring Using the Target
Detection of Infrared Source.
Electronics 2022, 11, 1207. https://
doi.org/10.3390/electronics11081207
Academic Editors: Pierluigi Siano,
Hassan Haes Alhelou and Amer
Al-Hinai
Received: 9 March 2022
Accepted: 8 April 2022
Published: 11 April 2022
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Article
A New Method of Conductor Galloping Monitoring Using the
Target Detection of Infrared Source
Yufeng Gao
1,
*, Jun Yang
1
, Ke Zhang
2
, Huaizhen Peng
3
, Yin Wang
3
, Na Xia
3
and Gang Yao
1
1
Hangzhou Power Supply Company, State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power Co., Ltd., Hangzhou 310000, China;
kety@zju.edu.cn (J.Y.); zmanda97@163.com (G.Y.)
2
State Grid Electric Power Research Institute Co., Ltd., Hefei 230088, China; 13637052098@163.com
3
School of Computer Science and Information Engineering, Hefei University of Technology,
Hefei 230601, China; 2018110976@mail.hfut.edu.cn (H.P.); wangyin950203@gmail.com (Y.W.);
xiananawo@hfut.edu.cn (N.X.)
* Correspondence: aimer_17@163.com; Tel.: +86-136-6669-6055
Abstract:
Because the galloping of iced conductors is one of the main disasters in the State Grid,
resulting in huge economic and property losses every year, the research on relevant monitoring
methods is of great significance. The existing galloping monitoring technology is mainly based on the
contact detection method, which presents potential electrical hazards and power supply problems.
In this paper, a conductor galloping monitoring method based on the target detection of infrared
sources is put forward to overcome the shortcomings of existing methods. In other words, an infrared
source label is installed on the conductor spacer, high-definition night vision infrared cameras are
installed on electric power towers to take video of the infrared source labels, and the characteristic
amplitude of conductor galloping is calculated by an image recognition and tracking algorithm. The
practical application results indicate that the method has the advantages of non-contact detection,
safety and reliability, and high detection accuracy.
Keywords: infrared source; image recognition; meteorological; low power consumption
1. Introduction
In recent years, the construction of power transmission lines across China has become
faster and faster, and the requirements for lean power transmission management have
become more demanding. As of the end of 2019, the combined length of 110 (66) kV and
higher transmission lines was 1.0934 million km, and the line length of UHV projects
in operation was over 38,000 km. The number of incidents of wire dancing has been is
increasing year by year. Since 1957, more than 1500 galloping accidents have been recorded
in China, and transmission lines of different levels from 10 kV to 1100 kV have been affected,
resulting in economic losses in the tens of billions of RMB.
Conductor galloping refers to a type of low-frequency, large-amplitude self-excited
vibration caused by eccentric icing of transmission line conductors and wind excitation. It
can cause serious accidents such as line tripping, damage to armor clamps and insulators,
broken conductor strands or broken lines, damage to electric power towers, damage to
foundations, and even tower collapse. It can be seen that it is a serious disaster that
endangers the safe and stable operation of transmission lines [
1
,
2
]. Therefore, it is of great
significance to study effective monitoring techniques for conductor galloping.
2. Related Works
It is difficult to measure the trajectory of conductor galloping with existing models.
Several scholars have studied the trajectories of conductor galloping in an attempt to find
models that can analyze the trajectories and predict the amplitude of conductor gallop-
ing
[3–9],
. Some scholars have applied UAV target tracking and detection to conductor
Electronics 2022, 11, 1207. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11081207 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/electronics
