Insulator is indispensable component in high voltage transmission lines. Regular maintenance of insulator can assure safe transmission of power and safe operation of power grid. Manual patrol inspection

robot patrol inspection

manned helicopter patrol inspection and unmanned aerial vehicle patrol inspection are the existing patrol inspection methods of transmission lines. At present

the mainstream mode of operation and maintenance of power line in China is“UAV patrol inspection as the main mode

supplemented by manual patrol inspection”. For the sake of safety

the UAV

in case of inspecting the HV transmission line

must keep a certain safe distance from the transmission lines. Since the image background and the state of the insulator in the transmission line taken by the VAV is various and complex and also there are more types of small targets

the common types of target detection algorithm for the scenario of detection of insulator of transmission line is analyzed in this paper

the pros and cons of different algorithm strategy is compared and the algorithm is improved in combination with actual application. Finally

the research trend for the defect detection of insulator is prospected.