Infrastructure monitoring and inspection

1 . A system to monitor infrastructure systems, comprising:

a plurality of pre-deployed drones pre-deployed at pre-deployment locations in an infrastructure system;

a problem location estimation system that is configured to, when operating:

receive indications of an electrical problem in the infrastructure system;

analyze the indications to determine an estimated location of the electrical problem; and

an operations system, remote from the pre-deployment locations that is configured to, when operating:

select, based on analysis of the indications, a selected drone from within the plurality of pre-deployed drones, where the selected drone is pre-deployed at a location near the estimated location; and

remotely control, based on selection of the selected drone, operations of the selected drone to inspect an area or equipment in a vicinity of the estimated location of the electrical problem, wherein the problem location estimation system is further configured to, when operating:

receive observation data collected by the selected drone;

determine, based on analysis of the observation data, a refined location and details of the electrical problem; and

generate a repair ticket to perform repairs on the electrical problem, wherein the repair ticket specifies the refined location of the electrical problem.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the pre-deployment locations are located across an electrical distribution system.

3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the pre-deployment locations comprise power substations.

4 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the indications of the electrical problem comprise power outage reports from at least one of smart meters or customers.

5 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the indications of the electrical problem comprise indications of operation of power distribution system overcurrent protection or monitoring devices.

6 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the overcurrent protection or monitoring devices comprise at least one of protection relays or fault circuit indicators (FCIs).

7 . A method of monitoring infrastructure systems, comprising:

receiving indications of an electrical problem in an infrastructure system;

analyzing the indications to determine an estimated location of the electrical problem;

selecting, based on analyzing the indications, a selected drone that is pre-deployed at a location near the estimated location, wherein the selected drone is within a plurality of pre-deployed drones pre-deployed at pre-deployment locations in the infrastructure system;

remotely controlling, based on determining the selected drone, operations of the selected drone to inspect an area or equipment in a vicinity of the estimated location of the electrical problem;

receiving observation data collected by the selected drone;

determining, based on analysis of the observation data, a refined location and details of the electrical problem; and

generating a repair ticket to perform repairs on the electrical problem, wherein the repair ticket specifies the refined location of the electrical problem.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the pre-deployment locations are located across an electrical distribution system.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the pre-deployment locations comprise power substations.

10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the indications of the electrical problem comprise power outage reports from at least one of smart meters or customers.

11 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the indications of the electrical problem comprise indications of operation of power distribution system overcurrent protection or monitoring devices.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the overcurrent protection or monitoring devices comprise at least one of protection relays or fault circuit indicators (FCIs).

13 . A computer program product for monitoring infrastructure systems, the computer program product comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving indications of an electrical problem in an infrastructure system;

analyzing the indications to determine an estimated location of the electrical problem;

selecting, based on analyzing the indications, a selected drone that is pre-deployed at a location near the estimated location, wherein the selected drone is within a plurality of pre-deployed drones pre-deployed at pre-deployment locations in the infrastructure system; and

remotely controlling, based on determining the selected drone, operations of the selected drone to inspect an area or equipment in a vicinity of the estimated location of the electrical problem;

receiving observation data collected by the selected drone;

determining, based on analysis of the observation data, a refined location and details of the electrical problem; and

generating a repair ticket to perform repairs on the electrical problem, wherein the repair ticket specifies the refined location of the electrical problem.

14 . The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the pre-deployment locations are located across an electrical distribution system.

15 . The computer program product of claim 14 , wherein the pre-deployment locations comprise power substations.

16 . The computer program product of claim 14 , wherein the indications of the electrical problem comprise power outage reports from at least one of smart meters or customers.

17 . The computer program product of claim 14 , wherein the indications of the electrical problem reports comprise indications of operation of power distribution system overcurrent protection or monitoring devices.