State Grid Changzhou Power Supply Company Deploys “Spider Vehicle” to Overcome Live-Line Maintenance Challenges

On May 6, in Meishan Village, Shezhu Town, Liyang City, Changzhou, a tracked insulated aerial work vehicle resembling a spider skillfully navigated narrow field ridges to carry out live-line fault elimination on a 10kV distribution line. State Grid Changzhou Power Supply Company successfully addressed the difficulties of maintenance in complex terrain by deploying this newly developed tracked live-line operation vehicle.

The geographical features of Liyang—described as “three mountains, one river, and six-tenths farmland”—often render conventional insulated boom lifts ineffective due to narrow access paths and soft soil conditions. The defect in question was located on a pole-mounted switch on the 10kV Jin Hong 125 line, situated in a particularly constrained area. Performing maintenance with a power outage would have disrupted electricity supply to 15 integrated transformers and 4 key enterprises along the line. Thanks to the spider-like vehicle’s crawler chassis and four-legged stabilization system, it was able to traverse the soft, muddy terrain with ease and complete the live-line operation in just two hours, achieving a “zero-interruption” experience for users.

The vehicle is compact and maneuverable,  which boasts excellent stability and is especially suited for work in confined or rugged environments. According to Zhu Zhixin, head of the live-line operations team at State Grid Changzhou Power Supply Company, such terrain would have previously rendered on-site maintenance infeasible. Now, with growing hands-on experience, the team has developed a viable new approach for future live-line operations.

Moving forward, State Grid Changzhou Power Supply Company will continue to promote the application of the “spider vehicle” and integrate it with other tools such as insulated scaffolding to broaden the scope of live-line maintenance. Through continuous technological innovation and equipment upgrades, the company aims to shift from a reactive maintenance model to a proactive protection strategy, thereby enhancing the reliability of power supply services.(By Fran)