An IoT-Based System for Monitoring the Health of Guyed Towers in Overhead Power Lines

Abstract

The collapse of overhead power line guyed towers is one of the leading causes of power grid failures, subjecting electricity companies to pay considerable, high-value fines. In this way, the current work proposes a novel and complete framework for the remote monitoring of mechanical stresses in guyed towers. The framework method comprises a mesh network for data forwarding and neural networks to improve the performance of Low-Power and Lossy Networks. The method also considers the use of multiple sensors in the sensor fusion technique. As a result, the risk of collapse of guyed cable towers reduces, due to the remote monitoring and preventive actions promoted by the framework. Furthermore, the proposed method uses multiple input variable fusions, such as accelerometers and tension sensors, to estimate the tower’s displacement. These estimations help address the structural health of the tower against failures (i.e., loosening of the stay cables, displacement, and vibrations) that can cause catastrophic events, such as tower collapse or even cable rupture.