Enerza is creating a beetle-like robot that can predict power outages and wildfires

North America has 10 million kilometres of overhead power lines, and when vegetation come into contact with one, it can be like tinder to a flame.

鈥淥nce they come in contact with trees, the risk of forest fires increases,鈥 says Anson Maitland (PhD 鈥19, systems design engineering), co-founder of, a company at, University of 蓝莓视频鈥檚 startup incubator. 鈥淲ith our robot, utilities can spot vegetation risks, corrosion or birds' nests near the line and send out a team to handle it.鈥

He says that much of North America鈥檚 power infrastructure was built in the 1960鈥檚 or 70鈥檚. Power lines are often found in rural, forested areas and only monitored on average once every five years. While aware of the problem and eager for a solution, utilities companies don鈥檛 know where to best spend their operating dollars.

And without better monitoring tools, it鈥檚 difficult to know where and when to do maintenance.

鈥淗ow would they know which ones to maintain or replace?鈥 says Maitland. 鈥淲ith the robot they can inspect infrastructure more frequently and know with confidence when and where to replace power lines or trim trees.鈥

Enerza co-founder James Aein says the company鈥檚 tech is not just a robot but also a grid analytics platform. Just like a health care provider uses medical imaging to investigate patients鈥 health before invasive procedures, it gives utilities a whole picture of risks and maintenance needs.

Utilities want to implement procedures to be more proactive when it comes to maintenance and risk management, but they need the data,鈥 Aein says. 鈥淯sing Enerza鈥檚 tech they can pinpoint hotspots, analyze the problem and manage it 鈥 they can be proactive instead of reactive.鈥

Aein and Maitland started working out of Velocity in January, where they have set up a mock power line to validate their tech 鈥 a beetle-like, autonomous robotic platform. The robot collects data, which can be fed back to an analytics server, it also operates independently for extended periods of time and recharges itself on the line.

"Utilities are blind when it comes to these tens of thousands of kilometres of power lines 鈥 this would be its eyes and ears,鈥 Maitland says.

This story originally appeared in 蓝莓视频 News. Enerza's robot was covered in a story.

Enerza robot

The robot developed by Enerza