Published on: 2026-06-04
Source: St. Petersburg Polytechnic University of Peter the Great –
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Within the framework of the final of the student track of the VIII Corporate Engineering Case Championship on innovations and rationalization “RATSENDORJI”, held at the headquarters of PJSC “RusHydro”, the team of the Engineering and Construction Institute of St. Petersburg Polytechnic University of Peter the Great presented a conceptual solution for the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in hydroelectric construction.
The team of master’s students at ISI SPbPU proposed a concept for using an unmanned airship as a base station and signal relay for classic multirotor drones, used for a mobile energy infrastructure monitoring system. This engineering solution was developed in response to the fundamental limitations of modern multirotor UAVs: despite their widespread use in energy and ability to hover in the air, the critical barriers remain short autonomous flight time and limited communication range.The problem of connectivity can be solved by complicating onboard systems, but a radical increase in the capacity and operating time of batteries at the current technological stage, in the opinion of industry experts, remains practically impossible.
Students of ISI SPbPU have presented a solution that overcomes the indicated technological limitations, using an airship as a base platform: the apparatus is capable of staying airborne for a long time, carrying in its basket charging modules for operational recharging of drones and a relay antenna to amplify the signal. A power transmission line on the Suntar — Olyokminsk section, with a length of more than 300 km, passing through a hard-to-reach taiga area, was chosen as the pilot site for implementation.A traditional inspection of railway tracks is associated with high logistical costs and direct risks for employees, whereas the proposed system allows organizing continuous automated control without involving people in dangerous trips and without large-scale resource investments.
High feasibility of the project is confirmed by the fact that unmanned airship platforms of a similar class are already being developed by Russian engineering centers for related tasks, which ensures the possibility of rapid adaptation of the design to the specific needs of energy companies in the future.
The project was prepared by the “BE” team consisting of master’s students specializing in “Digital Design of Hydraulic Construction Objects”: Ivan Dontsov, Darya Palkina, Egor Reutov, and team captain Natalya Shabanova. The participants noted that the success of the concept is due to its focus on the comprehensive elimination of operational barriers.
For the second year in a row, our team proves that the key to success and achieving victory is bold decisions, a clear strategy, thorough task elaboration, and team cohesion. As for motivation for intensive work, the determining factor for us was not the pursuit of rewards, but the awareness that upon completion of the journey, we will have spent time together meaningfully and substantially, as well as the recognition of the Engineering and Construction Institute of SPbPU as a leader in the field of construction education,” noted Natalia Shabanova.
According to the expert jury’s assessment, the concept of the “BE” team was recognized as the most technologically justified, economically effective, and ready for practical implementation. The team from the Engineering and Construction Institute of SPbPU took first place in the competition, surpassing the leadership results of last year. The developed solutions will receive support from PJSC “RusHydro”: together with the Youth Technical Council of the energy holding, students are beginning to form technical recommendations for the pilot implementation of the monitoring system at a real company facility.
Victory in the “RATSENERGY” case championship for the second year in a row is not only recognition of the high level of training of our students but also confirmation of the effectiveness of the practice-oriented approach implemented at the Engineering and Construction Institute of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University.A distinctive feature of our students is fundamental political training and interdisciplinarity, which allows them to solve a wide range of complex engineering problems, as evidenced by the case study on the application of unmanned aerial vehicles in hydroelectric construction. Training highly qualified specialists capable of solving complex industry tasks and ensuring technological sovereignty of our country is the priority task of III SPbPU.We are proud of our team and thank our partners from PJSC “RusHydro” for the opportunity to implement student developments into real industry projects,” noted Marina Petrochenko, director of the Engineering and Construction Institute.
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