A Chinese-made robot capable of flying and clearing ice from power lines completes its first operation in Cili county, Zhangjiajie, Hunan province. (Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn)

A domestically-made robot capable of flying to power lines and removing ice was put to work recently in Cili county, Zhangjiajie, China's Hunan province, offering a new solution for safeguarding power grids during extreme winter weather.

The KICE-500 de-icing robot, developed by Changsha-based Hunan Disaster Prevention Technology Co Ltd, completed its first real-world operation earlier this week. It autonomously cleared ice from a 500-meter stretch of ground wire in just 20 minutes, marking a breakthrough in maintaining power infrastructure in hard-to-access mountainous areas.