The iron duo: Robots help secure power veins on central China's icy peaks

On the frozen peaks of Niuji Mountain near Suizhou City, a battle against nature is unfolding. As a brutal cold wave gripped central China this week, thick layers of ice threatened to snap the 800-kilovolt Shan-Wu line – a critical energy artery that channels power from the north to the south.

But this year, the front line of defense isn't just human. To save the power grid, electric crews have deployed a high-tech dynamic duo that sounds like something out of a sci-fi novel: a heavy-duty Python all-terrain crawler and a precision de-icing flight robot.

On Tuesday, the mountain paths were transformed into treacherous glass slides. "A regular vehicle wouldn't stand a chance here," said Zhang Zisheng, a deputy team leader at State Grid Hubei. Enter the Python – an 11-meter-long, steel-tracked beast. Roaring against the wind, the monster vehicle clawed its way up the frozen slopes, ferrying heavy equipment and engineers to the summit where the ice was thickest.

Once at the peak, the Python handed the baton to its aerial partner. A four-rotor de-icing robot took to the sky, landing precisely on the frozen power lines. Using a specialized wheel set, it hugged the wire and initiated a dual-mode attack: high-frequency vibrations to loosen the ice, followed by spinning blades to shave away the remnants.

The transformation in safety and efficiency is staggering. Just two years ago, at this exact spot, it took six engineers six hours of life-threatening work – climbing frozen towers and manually chipping away ice – to achieve the same result.

"Today, we only need two people for supervision, and the job is done in two hours," says Dong Yunsong, a maintenance specialist. "It's a quantum leap in safety."

As Hubei moves away from the era of man vs. nature and hand-to-hand combat, the iron duo represents a new chapter for China's power grid – where smart machines take the risks, and the lights stay on far below the frozen peaks.