On the Potential of Self-Organizing Energy Systems

In the rapidly evolving field of energy management and autonomous systems, Kristina Wogatai presented her planned dissertation, titled "Exploring the Potential of Self-Organizing Applications in Energy Networks" at the Doctoral Symposium of the 4th IEEE International Conference on Autonomic Computing and Self-Organizing Systems (ACSOS 2023). Held from September 25th to 29th in Toronto, Canada, this conference serves as a significant forum for sharing the latest research in autonomous computing, self-adaptation, and self-organization.

Modern society's increasing demands for efficient and sustainable energy management make stable energy supply networks indispensable. However, achieving this stability is challenging due to dynamic environments and diverse constraints from various energy sources. Kristina's research focuses on self-organizing applications as a potential solution to these challenges. These applications enable network components to communicate and collaborate without centralized control, making adaptive decisions to respond to changing conditions.

Inspired by slime molds, Kristina explores their efficient pathways and growth optimization to balance energy demand and load across network components and areas. Her work also addresses the concept of resilience by developing fault-tolerant architectures for energy systems. These architectures incorporate redundant components, alternative pathways, and self-healing mechanisms for network stability, even in the presence of faults or failures.

Additionally, the study explores the integration of nature-inspired approaches with advanced technologies like artificial intelligence to enhance energy grid management. Overall, by focusing on specific research questions and considering the combination of nature-inspired approaches, advanced technologies, and energy grid optimization, this research aims to contribute novel findings and expand the existing body of knowledge in the field of self-organizing applications in energy networks.

Paper

Kristina Wogatai. Exploring the Potential ofSelf-Organizing Applications in Energy Networks. In Proc. IEEE International Conference on Autonomic Computing and Self-Organizing Systems (ACSOS), Toronto, Canada, September 25-29, 2023.

Energy Disaggregation with NILM on a Raspberry Pi with Smart-Metering Extension

Our recent work on Energy Disaggregation with Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring (NILM) on a Raspberry Pi with a Smart-Metering Extension was presented at the 2nd International Conference on Power Systems and Electrical Technology (PSET) in Milan, Italy, from August 25th to 27, 2023.

Smart Metering Extension for Raspberry Pi

Non-intrusive load monitoring (NILM) is a promising technology for efficient energy feedback in residential settings, supporting low-cost energy management systems. However, achieving accurate disaggregation necessitates higher sampling frequencies than standard smart meters (15-minute intervals). State-of-the-art methods require a minimum frequency of 1Hz, increasing system costs and privacy concerns. To address this, we propose a cost-effective single-device smart meter utilizing Raspberry Pi and YoMoPie Monitor for efficient and accurate local processing of user data.
Our concept involves a low-cost single-device smart meter that provides direct feedback based on local user data processing. The system’s performance was tested in a laboratory setting under two different scenarios, and promising results were obtained.
Our system demonstrated promising results in disaggregation performance and computational complexity in laboratory tests under two scenarios. This study evaluates implementing NILM on an embedded system with limited resources, achieving satisfactory outcomes for five appliances. The open-source software and hardware enable easy replication and further exploration by the research community and other stakeholders.

Color indicating detected devices by the NILM algorithm

 To learn more, check out the paper

Johannes Winkler, Hafsa Bousbiat, Stefan Jost, and Wilfried Elmenreich. Energy Disaggregation with NILM on a Raspberry Pi with Smart-Metering Extension. In Proc. 2023 2nd International Conference on Power Systems and Electrical Technology (PSET 2023), Milan, Italy, August 25-27, 2023.

or visit our NILM Raspberry Pi project on Github.