Supervision, control and maintenance of automated power grid substations by utilizing augmented and mixed reality technologies

doctoral thesis

• Title (croatian): Nadzor, upravljanje i održavanje automatiziranih postrojenja elektroenergetskoga sustava primjenom tehnologija proširene i miješane stvarnosti
• Author: Miro Antonijević; MBZ: -346713
• Mentor: Željka Mihajlović (mentor)
• Committee member: Željka Mihajlović (član povjerenstva)
• Granter: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing; (Department of Electronics, Microelectronics, Computer and Intelligent Systems); Zagreb
• Defense date and country: 2018, Croatia
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: TECHNICAL SCIENCES; Electrical Engineering; Power Engineering
• Universal decimal classification (UDC): 621.3 - Electrical engineering

Abstract

Ever since electrical substations have existed, they have been monitored and controlled by certain automation systems. Today, this task is usually carried out by Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems. SCADA systems today usually implement standardized communication protocols, thus using the standardization influence in the industry to connect to many different devices, enhancing their functionality. The most prominent of the standards is the IEC 61850 international standard (International Electrotechnical Commission) which is used in the majority of new electrical substations in the entire world. The most important enhancements the IEC 61850 standard offers are data management, communication engineering and visualization of process automation information in SCADA applications. The most common way of visualizing process automation data is through Human Machine Interface (HMI) screens in substation control centers. This common data visualization approach creates problems with supervision, control and maintenance procedures because it separates automation data from its corresponding equipment, thus slowing down engineers and making their procedures error-prone. New visualization technologies like Augmented reality (AR) and Mixed reality (MR) have recently gone through a steep maturation process and are being perfected and used in many different environments making them very relevant in any field. This thesis presents a novel methodology for visualizing process related SCADA information to enhance and facilitate human-centric activities in power grid substations such as regular equipment maintenance. The methodology is based on utilizing AR and MR visualization techniques along with the advantages of standards-based communication protocols in power grid substations. This research thesis resulted in development of proof of concept AR and MR applications which are used to display SCADA data near corresponding substation equipment demonstrating originality of the research. The applications use many visualization methods such as widgets and 3D models of substation equipment, making them user-friendly. Since displaying SCADA information needs to be executed considering soft real-time restrictions, certain tests were conducted to prove that these restrictions are respected. The main easily applicable product of the research is the development of an entire software system aimed at supporting maintenance procedures in environments such as power grid substations named the RTGo system. The system incorporates AR techniques into maintenance procedures making them faster, easier and less error-prone.

Abstract (croatian)

Podsustavi elektroenergetskog sustava se nadziru i kontroliraju određenim sustavima za automatizaciju. Danas taj zadatak obično obavljaju SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) sustavi. Najvažniji komunikacijski protokol koji SCADA sustavi koriste jest IEC 61850 (International Electrotechnical Commission) međunarodni standard. Bitnije značajke koje pruža IEC 61850 standard su upravljanje podacima, inženjering komunikacije i mogućnost vizualizacije procesnih podataka u SCADA aplikacijama. Procesni podaci se vizualiziraju pomoću HMI (Human Machine Interface) ekrana u kontrolnim centrima. Ovakav pristup vizualizacije podataka, iako čest, stvara probleme sa procesima nadzora, upravljanja i održavanja, jer odvaja procesne automatizacijske digitalne podatke od pripadne opreme. Nove tehnologije vizualizacije kao što su proširena stvarnost (AR – Augmented Reality) i miješana stvarnost (MR – Mixed Reality) su već prošle kroz stadij sazrijevanja i primjenjive su u mnogim okruženjima. Ova disertacija predlaže nove metode vizualizacije procesnih SCADA informacija s ciljem poboljšanja ljudskih aktivnosti u podsustavima elektroenergetskog sustava. Kao rezultat disertacijskog istraživanja razvijene su proof of concept AR i MR aplikacije koje mogu prikazivati SCADA informacije pored pripadne opreme što je ujedno i ciljana originalnost istraživanja. Glavni proizvod koji je izgrađen u potpunosti i primjenjiv je u stvarnim postrojenjima jest softverski sustav za upravljanje održavanjem podsustava elektroenergetskog sustava pod imenom RTGo. Sustav integrira AR tehnologije u procedure održavanje čime ih čini bržima, lakšima i manje podložnim greškama.

• Keywords: power grid; automation; SCADA; augmented reality; mixed reality; maintenance; supervision; control
• Keywords (english): elektroenergetika; automatizacija; SCADA; proširena stvarnost; miješana stvarnost; održavanje; nadzor; upravljanje
• Language: english
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:168:147943
• Study programme: Title: Electrical Engineering and Computing; Study programme type: university; Study level: postgraduate; Academic / professional title: Doktor znanosti elektrotehnike i računarstva (Doktor znanosti elektrotehnike i računarstva)
• Type of resource: Text
• Extent: 131 str. ; 30 cm.
• File origin: Born digital
• Access conditions: Closed access
• Created on: 2019-04-02 13:59:33