Government - owned New Zealand power transmission firm Transpower is working to reduce unnecessary call - outs and improve efficiency with a four - week trial of two robots , developed in partnership with Massey University . They look like the robots from Pixar movie Wall-E and understand commands from their human bosses. Named A - E and Eve , the machines have been fitted with HD cameras , infrared technology and sensors , enabling them to assess power equipment and determine whether a human engineer needs to be called out . Massey is also working on developing machine learning systems for the robots , to improve efficiency , and their capacity to inspect power lines at height .
Government - owned New Zealand power transmission firm Transpower is working to reduce unnecessary call - outs and improve efficiency with a four - week trial of two robots , developed in partnership with Massey University . Named A - E and Eve , the machines have been fitted with HD cameras , infrared technology and sensors , enabling them to assess power equipment and determine whether a human engineer needs to be called out . Massey is also working on developing machine learning systems for the robots , to improve efficiency , and their capacity to inspect power lines at height .