China's First "Drone Virtual Cockpit" Launches in Wuhan, Advancing Power Grid Inspections to "Fly-and-Inspect" Stage

With just a few mouse clicks from the office, operators can now control a drone tens of kilometers away to perform detailed inspections of a substation. Recently, the electric power industry's first "Drone Virtual Cockpit" technology was put into practical application at the Substation Operation and Maintenance Branch of State Grid Wuhan Power Supply Company. This enables real-time remote operation for substation inspections, significantly improving inspection and handling efficiency.
This technology deeply integrates real-time control, 3D visualization, and high-speed data transmission. It allows a "virtual cockpit" to be set up using existing drones and office computers, without requiring additional hardware modifications.

A drone inspects the 220 kV Xunsihe Substation. Photo by State Grid Wuhan Power Supply Company

According to Li Xiang, deputy general manager of the Substation Operation and Maintenance Branch of State Grid Wuhan Power Supply Company, past drone inspections required drones to follow preset flight paths, and operation and maintenance personnel could only identify issues from static photos. Now, remote control has broken free from the constraints of fixed flight routes, achieving "fly-and-inspect" capabilities. Operators can intervene at any time to manually control the flight for a "closer look." This greatly enhances the precision and flexibility of equipment inspections and significantly accelerates response times to emergencies.

The "Drone Virtual Cockpit" conducts remote inspections of multiple substations simultaneously. Photo by State Grid Wuhan Power Supply Company

This system leverages existing equipment, making costs controllable and facilitating rapid adoption. Operators at the centralized control station can conduct remote inspections of multiple substations simultaneously, effectively resolving the practical contradiction of a growing number of substations versus a limited number of operation and maintenance personnel. Currently, the "virtual cockpit" technology has been applied to 119 outdoor substations in Wuhan, covering an operational area of over 8,000 square kilometers. (By Wang Xin, Li Yueyuan, Mao Sizhe, and Zhang Heng)