Electric power line dips measurement using drone-based photogrammetric techniques

High voltage power transmission lines have been to keep the proper dip for maintenance. Powerline dips at a random point are conventionally measured by the direct or indirect observation but it is not only unsafe but labor-intensive. Therefore in this study we applied the photogrammetric technique to remotely measure the powerline dips. Since it is not easy to extract conjugate points from linear powerlines, we exploited the epipolar lines acrossing the powerlines for 3D mapping of the powerlines and dip measurements. The vertical mapping accuracy estimated at two field-surveyed power line points was 15∼16cm that are within 5% of deflection at the points and less than 3% of the powerline dip.