To prevent an insulator failure, an automatic cleaning and inspection robot was developed for suspension insulator strings. The robot autonomously moves along the insulator string using the clamps installed on its two moving frames. Especially, unlike the existing cleaning robots using jets of water, the robot system adopts a dry cleaning method using rotating brushes and a circular motion guide. In addition, a mechanized brush bristles and a voltage-balancing contactor are devised to increase cleaning efficiency and to prevent arc generation under live-line conditions, respectively. We confirmed its effectiveness through experiments.
