Power Line Detection System for Unmanned Aircraft Systems

Electrical power lines pose a serious crash hazard to helicopters and other air-based vehicles, especially small aerial vehicles such as unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). This is because power lines are so widespread, hard to see, and strung at roughly the same height above the ground at which these aircraft fly. In fact, according to one report by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), power lines are the cause of roughly 5 percent of helicopter accidents. This statistic applies to both civilian and military cases. Another report found power-line collisions are responsible for 31 percent of accidents among agricultural aircraft. Fatalities and injuries occurred in many of these accidents.