Modern heat and electricity incorporated networks are very capital-intensive due to the extensive infrastructure they require, which must be maintained and upgraded to ensure continued coordinated operation and energy supply. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can be used to monitor and maintain various sorts of power and energy producing facilities. This chapter discusses an intelligent monitoring and maintenance system for multi-UAV teams applicable to modern heat and electricity incorporated networks. The proposed system consists of (i) an energy harvesting-assisted searching UAV (SUAV) that detects and reports abnormalities in any infrastructure component, or spots that require further action, and (ii) ground-based UAVs (GUAVs) that travel to the waypoints to perform dangerous tasks at high altitudes, such as construction work, repairs, and etc. The SUAV collects data and inspects the infrastructure, and it must inform as many GUAVs as possible about any anomalies in the infrastructure, as more GUAVs allow the required tasks to be accomplished more efficiently and rapidly. The simulation results show the benefits of using the proposed framework in terms of the number of informed GUAVs as well as a mission success metric.
