Advanced thermal vision techniques for enhanced fault diagnosis in electrical equipment: a review

Abstract

Ensuring the reliability and safety of electrical equipment is essential for industrial and residential applications. Traditional fault diagnosis methods involving physical inspections are time-consuming and ineffective for early fault detection. Infrared (IR) thermography offers a non-invasive and efficient solution by identifying anomalies in temperature profiles. This review explores thermal vision-based fault diagnosis techniques, including region of interest (ROI) segmentation, image pre-processing, and fault diagnosis algorithms, with a focus on deep learning approaches. The study highlights the effectiveness of machine learning models in enhancing fault detection accuracy while identifying challenges such as environmental variations, data inconsistencies, and system integration issues. The review discusses the role of real-time applications, wireless technologies, and AI-based automation in improving fault detection. Research gaps are identified, and future directions are proposed to enhance efficiency, reliability, and industrial adoption. © The Author(s) under exclusive licence to The Society for Reliability Engineering, Quality and Operations Management (SREQOM), India and The Division of Operation and Maintenance, Lulea University of Technology, Sweden 2025.