Patent ID: 7184072

Claim:
A system for acquiring images of electric transmission line tower structures, equipment attached to said tower structures, and transmission lines suspended from said system utilizing an aircraft and an arrangement of at least one still camera, means for detecting a tower structure, a data storage unit, and a central processing unit containing operational software and connected to said cameras, said means for detecting a tower structure, and said storage unit, said system comprising the steps of: a, flying said aircraft along the transmission line at a predetermined altitude above the tops of the towers, said aircraft having a line of flight along said transmission line and generally parallel to the horizontal defined by the terrain over which said aircraft is flying, b, arranging said camera to point rearwardly relative to said line of flight and to take pictures along an exposure line directed downwardly at an angle of less than 90 degrees to said horizontal, c, generating and transmitting a signal to said central processing indicative of the presence of a tower to be photographed, d, determining in said central processing unit the time delay necessary for said aircraft to fly past said tower to a predetermined exposure point located between the tower to be photographed and the next tower in said transmission line after the tower to be photographed, e, activating said still camera at said exposure point to acquire an image of said tower structure, f, transmitting the data corresponding to said acquired image to said data storage unit, and g, resetting said system to repeat steps c, d, e, and f for the next tower in said transmission line.