The invention relates to a self-adaptive gate machine system for substation engineering management based on the Internet of Things, and an operating method. The self-adaptive gate machine system is characterized by comprising a management terminal, a cloud management server, a gate machine, detection devices and substation equipment, wherein a plurality of the detection devices are arranged, and can be used for detecting information of the substation equipment; and the gate machine comprises a gate machine body, a roller body, a roller sleeve, roller bumps and a rotating member. The self-adaptive gate machine system can effectively manage the equipment and personnel of a substation construction site, the gate machine can effectively prevent tail after without hindering rapid passage of thepersonnel, and the space between rollers can be adjusted to adapt to different body types.