Spatially Assisted Fault Reporting Method, System and Apparatus

• US 20080125984A1
• Filed: 09/25/2006
• Published: 05/29/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/25/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Incorporated
• Inventors: Blat, George C., Morman, Daniel N., Jiang, Ping, Skendzic, Veselin
• Application Number:
  US11/534,898
• Publication Number:
  US 20080125984A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/59
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0267 Fault communication, e.g. human machine interface [HMI]

Abstract

Methods and systems for spatially assisted fault reporting in a distribution system. Typical steps of the methods may include determining the location of the fault or the distance to the fault, generating and storing a plurality of waypoints representative of the route of the distribution system, processing the plurality of waypoints, determining spatial coordinates of the fault, generating a fault report, and communicating the fault report. The waypoints may be contained within an XML file which is compressed with a compression algorithm prior to sending and which is decompressed prior to use at a receiving end to create a visual template or overlay for displaying the fault information

Claims

1. A method for reporting a fault in a distribution system, the method comprising the steps of:

determining a location of the fault;

generating and storing a plurality of waypoints representative of a route of the distribution system;

generating a fault report; and

communicating the fault report.

2. The method for reporting a fault in accordance with claim 1, wherein the location of the fault is determined using a distance to the fault and the plurality of waypoints.

3. The method for reporting a fault in accordance with claim 2, wherein the distribution system is an electric power transmission system, and the distance to the fault is calculated using an impedance of a power transmission line.

4. The method for reporting a fault in accordance with claim 1, the method comprising the additional step of:

subsequently displaying the location of the fault information by using a geographic information system.

5. The method for reporting a fault in accordance with claim 1, the method comprising the additional step of:

displaying an automated analysis of information included in the fault report.

6. The method for reporting a fault in accordance with claim 1, wherein the distribution system is an electric power system.

7. The method for reporting a fault in accordance with claim 6, wherein the electric power system is an electric power transmission system.

8. The method for reporting a fault in accordance with claim 6, wherein the electric power system is a pipeline-based distribution system.

9. The method for reporting a fault in accordance with claim 1, wherein the distribution system is a communication system.

10. The method for reporting a fault in accordance with claim 8, wherein the communication system is fiber-optic or wire-based.

11. The method for reporting a fault in accordance with claim 1, wherein the distribution system is a road-based transportation system.

12. The method for reporting a fault in accordance with claim 1, wherein the step of communicating the fault report comprises:

sending the fault report as an email system message or as an email message attachment.

13. The method for reporting a fault in accordance with claim 1, wherein the step of communicating the fault report comprises:

sending the fault report via a stand alone transmission protocol.

14. The method for reporting a fault in accordance with claim 1, said method comprising the additional steps of:

storing the waypoints in a remote device; and

containing the waypoints in an XML file.

15. The method for reporting a fault in accordance with claim 1, the method comprising the additional steps of:

pre-calculating a distance between the waypoints; and

communicating the distance between the waypoints to a remote device.

16. The method for reporting a fault in accordance with claim 14, the method comprising the additional steps of:

compressing the XML file with a compression algorithm; and

decompressing or expanding the compressed XML file prior to use at a receiving end.

17. The method for reporting a fault in accordance with claim 16, the method comprising the additional step of:

selecting the compression algorithm from the group consisting of zlib, zip, 7z, rar, arj and bzip2.

18. A fault reporting system for a distribution system, the fault reporting system comprising:

a fault detection device for detecting a fault and for determining a location of the fault;

a geographic information system for visually displaying the location of the fault; and

a communication system for transmitting information about the fault from the fault detection device to the geographic information system.

19. The fault reporting system in accordance with claim 18, wherein the geographic information system displays an automated analysis of the transmitted fault information.

20. The fault reporting system in accordance with claim 18, wherein the distribution system is an electrical power system.

21. The fault reporting system in accordance with claim 20, wherein the electrical power system is an electrical power transmission system.

22. The fault reporting system in accordance with claim 18, wherein the distribution system is a pipeline-based distribution system.

23. The fault reporting system in accordance with claim 18, wherein the distribution system is a communication system.

24. The fault reporting system in accordance with claim 23, wherein the communication system is fiber-optic or wire-based.

25. The fault reporting system in accordance with claim 18, wherein the distribution system is a road-based transportation system.

26. The fault reporting system in accordance with claim 18, the communication system including email messaging for sending the transmitted fault information as an email or an email attachment.

27. The fault reporting system in accordance with claim 18, wherein the fault detection device determines the location of the fault.

28. The fault reporting system in accordance with claim 27, wherein the location of the fault is determined using a distance to the fault and a plurality of waypoints representative of a route of the distribution system.

29. The fault reporting system in accordance with claim 28, wherein the distribution system is an electric power distribution system, and the distance to the fault is determined using an impedance of the electric power transmission system.

30. The fault reporting system in accordance with claim 18, wherein the geographic information system generates a plurality of waypoints representative of the route of the distribution system.

31. The fault reporting system in accordance with claim 30, wherein the geographic information system processes the plurality of waypoints and determines spatial coordinates of the fault.

32. The fault reporting system in accordance with claim 30, wherein the fault detection device stores the plurality of waypoints in an XML file.

33. The fault reporting system in accordance with claim 32, wherein the fault detection device communicates the XML file to the geographical information system.

34. The fault reporting system in accordance with claim 33, wherein said fault detection device compresses the XML file with a compression algorithm and the geographical information system decompresses the XML file.

35. The fault reporting system in accordance with claim 34, wherein said fault detection device compresses the XML file with a compression algorithm selected from the group consisting of zlib, zip, 7z, rar, arj and bzip2.

36. An apparatus for reporting a fault in a distribution system, the apparatus comprising:

a fault detection apparatus for detecting a fault;

a memory comprising geographical information relating to a route of the distribution system;

a processor for determining a location of the fault, and for generating a fault report comprising the location of the fault; and

,

a communication system for transmitting the fault report.

37. The apparatus for reporting a fault in accordance with claim 36, wherein the graphical information relating to the route of the distribution system includes a plurality of waypoints along the route of the distribution system.

38. The apparatus for reporting a fault in accordance with claim 37, wherein the location of the location of the fault is calculated using the waypoints and the distance to the fault.

39. The apparatus for reporting a fault in accordance with claim 36, wherein the distribution system is an electric power transmission system, and the distance to the fault is calculated using an impedance of a power transmission line.

40. The apparatus for reporting a fault in accordance with claim 36, wherein the fault report further comprises the graphical information relating to the route of the distribution system.

41. The apparatus for reporting a fault in accordance with claim 40, wherein the fault report comprises a configuration for use with a graphical information system.

42. The apparatus for reporting a fault in accordance with claim 41, wherein the configuration comprises Keyhole Markup Language.

43. The apparatus for reporting a fault in accordance with claim 36, wherein the communication system comprises a configuration for transmitting the fault report as an email system message or as an email message attachment.

44. The apparatus for reporting a fault in accordance with claim 36, wherein the communication system comprises a configuration for transmitting the fault report using a stand alone file transmission protocol.

45. The apparatus for reporting a fault in accordance with claim 37, wherein the graphical information further comprises a distance between the waypoints.

46. The apparatus for reporting a fault in accordance with claim 36, wherein the distribution system is an electric power transmission system.

47. The apparatus for reporting a fault in accordance with claim 36, wherein the distribution system is a pipeline-based distribution system.

48. The apparatus for reporting a fault in accordance with claim 36, wherein the distribution system is a communication system.

49. The apparatus for reporting a fault in accordance with claim 48, wherein the communication system is fiber-optic or wire-based.

50. The apparatus for reporting a fault in accordance with claim 36, wherein the distribution system is a road-based transportation system.

51. A fault reporting system for a distribution system, the fault reporting system comprising:

means for determining the location of the fault or the distance to the fault;

means for generating and storing a plurality of waypoints representative of the route of the distribution system;

means for processing the plurality of waypoints;

means for determining spatial coordinates of the fault;

means for generating a fault report; and

means for communicating the fault report.