Leaning Pole Detection Added to Noteworthy’s Asset Inspection Product Suite

Noteworthy AI added a new feature to its Asset Inspection suite that allows utilities to measure the degree of pole lean. This will allow for risky assets to be identified and fixed before they become a safety or reliability issue.

‍The Importance of Identifying Leaning Poles

For all distribution grid operators, maintaining the integrity of their assets is critical to ensuring safety and reliability. One important defect that many utilities look out for is leaning poles, which can pose a significant risk to both service continuity and public safety. 

If left untreated, these compromised structures can lead to power outages, costly repairs, and even hazardous conditions for nearby residents and workers. By proactively finding and fixing leaning poles, utilities can mitigate these risks, ensuring a stable and secure delivery of services while safeguarding communities. 

Flagging Leaning Poles with Noteworthy Inspect

At a high-level, the system uses a series of AI-powered cameras mounted, non-intrusively, to a vehicle. As the vehicle drives around as part of routine operations, the camera system automatically captures images of each detected utility pole, selecting and saving the best images along with the pole's geolocation coordinates. 

To calculate pole lean, the model isolates the pole mast in order to calculate the angle. The images below show what this looks like:

With this approach, the system can calculate the lean angle for each pole, allowing utilities to detect leaning poles earlier and conduct maintenance faster, preventing potential risks. Additionally, there is a filter function included in the Inspect Cloud platform that enables users to filter for the poles with the highest degrees of lean. 

Advantages of Proactive Detection

By incorporating leaning pole detection into the Asset Inspection suite, Noteworthy AI empowers utilities to maintain safer and more reliable infrastructure. Proactively addressing leaning poles can help utilities avoid costly repairs, enhance service continuity, and safeguards both utility workers and the public. This advancement is a crucial step toward a more resilient and secure power grid.

Want to learn more about how Noteworthy AI’s Asset Inspection suite could work for you? Email the team at hello@noteworthy.ai today!