During the college entrance examination period, a group of "special inspectors" in Kunming, Yunnan attracted worldwide attention.
According to a report by the Hong Kong 'South China Morning Post' on June 11, in order to ensure power supply during the college entrance examination period, Kunming City in Yunnan Province has deployed snake-like inspection robots along some power lines. These robotic snakes can move spirally along the power lines, allowing them to detect potential safety hazards such as broken conductors, aging equipment, and abnormal heating.
The research and development unit, Southern Power Grid Yunnan Kunming Guandu Power Supply Bureau, stated that they used this “machine snake” to complete the inspection work of over 10 kV power distribution lines involved in the college entrance examination sites. The efficiency of this method is three times higher than that of manual inspections.
For a long time, manual inspections have been both labor-intensive and involving complex working environments with high risks. Although drones have been widely used in power inspection in recent years, their application scenarios still face certain limitations due to factors such as airport flight restrictions, high-voltage electromagnetic interference, battery endurance, and weather conditions.
And Kunming Power Supply Bureau uses “robot snakes” to enable staff to promptly address potential hazards identified by the robots. “Using technology to support the college entrance examination and ensuring reliable electricity supply.”
On June 3rd, the Guandu Power Supply Bureau of Southern Power Grid in Kunming, Yunnan, used a self-developed snake-shaped wire-climbing inspection robot to carry out detailed and comprehensive inspections. Yunnan Power Grid Company
The safety officer of Guandu Power Supply Bureau, Xu Haichun, introduced that this “machine snake” is equipped with a two-dimensional rotating high-definition camera, a thermal imager, and various professional sensors. It can use intelligent control algorithms to accurately identify potential safety hazards along the lines. The “body” of the machine snake features a multi-joint flexible series structure, allowing it to mimic the wriggling and crawling movements of snakes. It uses photoelectric distance sensors to detect obstacles ahead, controlling its head and tail to avoid obstacles and cross them. The “tail” of the machine snake is equipped with a non-contact power extraction device, which can directly obtain electricity from the transmission lines that are under inspection, enabling continuous autonomous inspection throughout the day.
According to a report in Yunnan Daily in April, the robot has been tested on multiple lines at Guandu Power Supply Bureau and has shown good results. In the next step, China Southern Power Grid Yunnan Electric Power Company will further optimize the robot based on operational data. It is expected that the robot will be used on more complex lines, providing new technical support for the intelligent operation and maintenance of the power grid.
According to the South China Morning Post, in addition to 'robot snakes', Kunming has also deployed robots, drones, and intelligent monitoring systems to monitor the power supply network in real time during the college entrance examination period. Among these, robots can operate in high-voltage environments and carry out inspections in areas that are difficult for humans to reach.
The "machine snake" – a seemingly insignificant case of intelligent upgrading in China's power system – actually reflects a larger trend: robots are moving from laboratories into real-life production processes. This is precisely a new track that China has carved out, leveraging its own advantages and distinct from other countries.
In March, the American magazine Foreign Policy noted that the current global competition in artificial intelligence (AI) revolves mainly around "cloud-based AI" technologies, such as large language models, computing power, and software. The United States maintains a leading position in this field due to its mature capital market and large-scale cloud service providers. However, China's strategic focus is increasingly shifting towards "AI in steel," which refers to AI systems embedded in machines that can sense, move, and adapt to the real world environment.
The article points out that just as early electric vehicles in China were underestimated, and later they became competitive in the global market due to their scale advantage, supply chain systems, and rapid iteration that reshaped the competitive landscape, embodied intelligence and humanoid robots are becoming the new battlefield for competition among major countries driven by AI. China is advancing these technologies at an astonishing speed and scale.
The real lasting competitive advantage in the field of humanoid robots will lie in the supply chain, according to the article. And this is precisely where China has a comparative advantage—highly dense industrial clusters, well-developed supplier networks, and large manufacturing scales allow for rapid iteration and continuous cost reduction.
This expands not only the way to improve production efficiency but also extends China-centered technological ecosystems and industry standards to more emerging markets. The magazine *Foreign Affairs* predicts, "This will give China even greater early mover advantages: its ecosystem will achieve industrialization faster, gain 'do it while learning' scale benefits, and increasingly shape global market expectations regarding cost-effectiveness, technology interfaces, and deployment processes."
