Introduction of New Technology means considering The Basics!

Drones to the Rescue

Dominion Energy hosted the Utility Imagery & Inspection Consortium (UIIC) conference this year in Richmond, Virginia.

During the conference, I saw a demonstration of the latest drone technology for inspecting Transmission and Distribution Grid assets. Onboard HD, high-contrast cameras enable you to read the information on name plates and see even tiny corrosion spots. The onboard software includes collision avoidance technology that enables the drone to fly around obstacles such as guy wires.

The technology is cool and opens up many opportunities. Beyond the straightforward application of being the eyes of a human up high, the greatest value is provided by post-image processing, which uses AI and ML to combine the images with asset records to create as-built baselines that enable the automatic identification of trouble spots in subsequent inspection runs. Key examples are vegetation encroachment, pole lean, and the estimation of the danger zones due to line sag and sway.

A Hobsons Choice?

This technology is quickly evolving, and the space is inhabited by several software startups, many of whom have yet to make a profit. Because of this, the option of building and maintaining it yourself is also on the table.

Utilities are faced with the choice of picking winners and losers or entering the space themselves as they set up or extend their own drone-enabled inspection programs.

What was Old is New again

Despite the novelty of the technology, I was reminded of how basic the evaluation process needs to be, using the same selection criteria that have remained relevant throughout all of the technological shifts of the computing revolution.

Yes, there is always unique risk in adopting new technology and processes and deciding the limits of the organization's risk tolerance.

However, the most important decisions do not involve evaluating the technology directly but require fundamental business decisions along with due diligence.

Advice to Early Adopters

No matter how “cool” the technology is, the universal challenges still remain of developing a long-term strategy, deciding upon the degree of investment needed, and determining the optimal speed of adoption against the magnitude of the expected reward. These are universal decisions, agonistic of any specific technology.

Message to Vendors

Remember that a decision about your company’s specific involvement is best made within the context of the business's fundamentals, not exclusively based on your own technical differential advantage! This is because, successful partnerships with staying power and win-win relationships are based upon the business fundamentals being aligned, not on the wow factor.