Avian Conservation: Power Line Bird Diverter Installation with Novel Touch-Capable Drone

Our water air soil farms and forests depend on birds as vital natural resources. Birds consume insects pollinate plants disperse seeds and maintain wetlands. Unfortunately power line collisions kill 175 million birds annually in the United States. Installing markers that help birds see and not hit power lines can decrease bird collisions by more than 70%. Today power linemen use bucket trucks and helicopters to install these lightweight devices on live electrical cables. However the extreme risk and substantial cost required to install these reflectors limit widespread adoption. Pitch Aeronautics has built a drone that leverages a cyclorotor for precision lateral positioning wind tolerance and a unique configuration for placing 5-25 lb payloads next to structures. During the SBIR Phase I research Pitch Aeronautics matured the drone control system and demonstrated the installation of multiple bird diverters on a cable in calm wind conditions. In parallel we demonstrated a novel state estimation system that uses several electromagnetic fields to localize the drone relative to a high-current cable in the laboratory. Phase II development will integrate the electromagnetic state estimation system on the drone to provide heading updates and experimentally evaluate electrostatic discharge between the drone and a high-voltage cable. We will develop a wind detection and compensation system and demonstrate bird diverter installations in 10kts of wind. Finally we will demonstrate bird diverter installation on an energized power line with a partnered utility. Ultimately Pitch Aeronautics can substantially lower bird casualties with this bird diverter installation drone. 1