Autonomous and Collaborative Robots for Energy Systems: State-of-the-art Review

Energy systems are becoming larger, more complicated and distributed system. Such environments make manual operation and investigation based on unsafe, slow and inefficient operations. The independent and cooperative robots have been realized as viable systems in energy infrastructures to monitor, maintain and assist in operating the facilities. Recent research indicates a gradual increase in automated, energy-sensitive work and combined task performance of robots. Simultaneously, energy systems have severe limitations in safety, reliability and power efficiency. According to research explained in recent surveys, energy-efficient movement planning, smart power controlling and collaborative working among robots in energy-based tasks are most important. This paper reviews autonomous and collaborative robots in energy systems. It considers energy infrastructures as robotic workplaces, discusses autonomous and collaborative robots and reviews energy consumption modelling and optimization plans. The system integration and real-life implementations are also discussed. Finally, the main problems and future study directions are described. This survey aims to provide a brief and methodical source of data for researchers and engineers working on robotics and energy systems.