ComEd Expands Drone Program with Skydio X10 to Enhance Operations
To support ComEd’s nation-leading resiliency, routine monitoring of equipment is crucial to ensuring all grid assets are operating as intended. ComEd uses drones in a variety of ways, including to inspect power lines both routinely and following storms to assess damage and enable crews to more quickly and efficiently restore power.
Learn more about Skydio for Utilities.
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- - The new Skydio X10s will provide our pilots
- the ability to support our storm response
- even better than we do today.
- It will provide real-time data images
- and live streaming to their FLSs,
- our system incident commanders
- and our regional emergency response managers
- so that they can see how many crews are needed
- to support the damage assessment
- and repairs out in the field.
- - I think there's tremendous value in using drones
- in an emergency response situation for utilities.
- With X10, it can navigate in the dark,
- it can navigate through adverse conditions
- in order to get to the right place
- and get the information you need.
- - The X10s robustness and precision in data collection
- would enhance comets ability to conduct thorough inspections,
- improve maintenance protocols
- and ensure service reliability.
- It's autonomous navigation system
- as ideal for complex environments,
- reducing pilot workload and enhancing safety.
- - The X10 with its anti-collision systems
- allows me to go into areas that are basically inaccessible
- or would be very hard to access.
- The drone allows us to see things
- that can't be visible from the ground.
- - With the new X10s AI features,
- it's really enabled us to be able to fly at night,
- which opens up a whole entire world
- of being able to safely find an issue at night
- and not putting our personnel in the harm's way.
- - The new SkyDio X10 is an exciting evolution
- for our drone pilots.
- Data images captured from the X10 will help support
- our image analytics platform called Optellos.
- - The SkyDio X10 has thermal capabilities
- and putting it up and being able to find hot spots
- on objects that you just can't see with a naked eye.
- Any defective cracked pieces of equipment
- that otherwise we would be putting a guest
- and sending a crew out there,
- not with the thermal we're able to see the actual device
- that's causing the problem.
- - The SkyDio X10 is a tremendous step forward
- for ComEd's UAS program.
- With its advanced thermal imaging and high resolution cameras,
- the X10 can conduct power line inspections
- and assess substation equipment efficiently,
- providing clear data in all lighting conditions.
- - One of the newest features and a fantastic one of that
- with the new X10 is that it is able to now process
- its 3D scans or 2D scans real time
- and we can view them from the controller
- and being able to see it real time in the field
- is a valuable asset.
- - This is where you would just do a normal map capture
- using a grid.
- - So today we met with the SkyDio team.
- Our pilots had the chance to test fly the new SkyDio X10s.
- The X10s are gonna provide us a lot of different capabilities
- for our pilots when flying.
- They'll have longer flight missions.
- We'll be able to capture better data.
- - X10 is going to improve resiliency
- by not only impacting the immediate
- but the downstream effects of having information
- at your fingertips.
- At the end of the day,
- customers expect safe, reliable and affordable power
- and X10 will enable that delivery
- by detecting small problems
- before they become big problems.
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