During the 4-day-long World Intelligence Expo 2026 that opened in Tianjin on May 28, smart patrol and inspection equipment and green power helped the local grid operator ensure resilient, quality power supply for the event.
Before its opening, State Grid Tianjin Electric Power Company already arranged a set of intelligent power patrol devices to improve related inspection efficiency on hot days and nights.
Since May 26, a four-footed robotic dog had been employed to walk, alongside the predetermined route, through a narrow underground cable tunnel in areas near the expo venue, the National Convention and Exhibition Center (Tianjin).
A robotic dog gauges temperature and checks partial discharge of electric cables in an underground cable tunnel in Tianjin on May 26, 2026. (Photo provided by State Grid Tianjin Electric Power Company)
Lifting its legs to cross fire-resistant doors within the tunnel smoothly, the robotic dog arranged specifically for the expo is more than capable of gauging temperature for in-tunnel cable joints via its infrared dual-lens pan-tilt camera.
In merely 30 seconds after the gauging, a group of temperature data with a limited error range of ±0.5 degree Celsius was uploaded to the grid operator's back-end monitoring platform for safety analysis.
Compared with manual gauging, intelligent robotic dogs can work for 4-plus hours without a hiatus and one patrol can span tunnels of two kilometers, beating manual inspection efficiency significantly and sufficing to replace 80 percent of regular manual inspections.
Within the switching station near the expo venue, another eye-catching yellow-wheeled inspection robot was deployed to measure temperatures of switch gears through its two camera "eyes".
Designed respectively for shooting under visible light and infrared thermal imaging, the two camera "eyes" of the robot which are also equipped with partial discharge detecting sensors can complete inspections over switchgears rapidly.
Whenever arriving at a switchgear, the robot can generate at once a report containing the infrared spectrum, partial discharge curves, and temperature data and upload the report in real time to the company's smart monitoring platform for overall supply guarantee.
Such scenes are a miniature of the regular smart power patrols and inspections of the grid operator, which also adopted unmanned smart patrol vehicles, digital twin systems, a full-scenario monitoring platform, etc. to enhance power supply resilience for the expo.
Through 800,000 kWh of green power purchased via Tianjin Power Exchange Center, the company also helped the expo organizer reduce 640 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, enabling intelligent, green power supply for the expo.
(Edited by Duan Jing with Xinhua Silk Road, duanjing@xinhua.org)
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