Updating distribution management system model responsive to real-time asset identification and location inputs

• US 9,424,614 B2
• Filed: 07/03/2013
• Issued: 08/23/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/03/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HCL Technologies Limited
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Bhageria, Gopal K., Monagle, Kevin M., Reboul, Jean-Gael F., Trevathan, Matthew B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Fennema, Robert
• Assistant Examiner(s): STEVENS, THOMAS H
• Application Number:
  US13/934,381
• Publication Number:
  US 20150012148A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,147 Days
• Field of Search: 703/1, 700/295, 320/109
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G05F 1/66 Regulating electric power
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences

Abstract

Models of a distribution network grid are automatically updated in response to real-time location data of uniquely identified temporary devices. Current geographical coordinates are determined within a distance tolerance that is selected as a function of a type of device indicated by the identity indicia. The geographical information system model is updated with a location of a unique identity of the device at the determined current geographical coordinates within the distance tolerance if unique identity of the device not already present within the geographical information system model, or if it is present and a displacement distance from the determined current geographical coordinates of the temporary device to existing geographic coordinates that are stored in the geographical information system model in association with the unique device identity exceeds a specified distance margin.

Claims

1. A method for automatically updating modeling of a distribution network grid in response to real-time location data of uniquely identified temporary devices, the method comprising:

acquiring identity indicia for a temporary device that is installed within an electrical distribution grid, wherein the electrical distribution grid is modeled by a geographical information system model of a utility that provides electricity to end users through components of the electrical distribution grid;

determining current geographical coordinates of the temporary device within a distance tolerance that is selected as a function of a type of device indicated by the identity indicia, wherein the geographical coordinates are three-dimensional coordinates comprising a latitude coordinate, a longitude coordinate and an altitude value;

determining if a unique identity of the temporary device that is indicated by the identity indicia is present within the geographical information system model;

updating the geographical information system model with a location of the unique identity of the temporary device at the determined current geographical coordinates of the temporary device within the distance tolerance in response to determining at least one of that the unique identity of the temporary device is not present within the geographical information system model, and that a displacement distance from the determined current geographical coordinates of the temporary device to existing geographic coordinates that are stored in the geographical information system model in association with the unique device identity exceeds a specified distance margin;

wherein the step of updating the geographical information system model with the location of the unique identity of the device at the determined current geographical three-dimensional coordinates of the temporary device within the distance tolerance comprises selecting one of two power lines that share common values of no more than two of a current geographical three-dimensional longitude, latitude and altitude coordinates determined for the temporary device within the distance tolerance as a power line incorporating the temporary device, in response to a determining a commonality of values of each of a three-dimensional longitude, latitude and altitude coordinates for the selected one of the two power lines within the distance tolerance; and

wherein the distance tolerance is less than a vertical or horizontal spacing distance between the two lines that is defined by a difference in corresponding values of the two power lines for at least one of the three-dimensional longitude, latitude and altitude coordinates that are determined for each of the two power lines.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

integrating computer-readable program code into a mobile programmable device;

wherein the mobile programmable device comprises a processing unit, a computer readable memory and a computer readable storage medium, and wherein the computer readable program code is embodied on the computer readable storage medium and comprises instructions that, when executed by the processing unit via the computer readable memory, cause the processing unit to perform the steps of acquiring the identity indicia for the temporary device, determining the current geographical coordinates of the temporary device, determining if the unique identity of the temporary device is present within the geographical information system model, updating the geographical information system model with the location of the unique identity of the device at a determined current geographical coordinates of the temporary device within the distance tolerance in response to determining at least one of that the unique identity of the device is not present within the geographical information system model and that the displacement distance from the determined current geographical coordinates of the temporary device to the existing geographic coordinates exceeds the specified distance margin.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of updating the geographical information system model with the location of the unique identity of the temporary device at the determined current geographical coordinates of the temporary device within the distance tolerance generates an updated geographical information system model, the method further comprising:

providing the updated geographical information system model to at least one of a supervisory control and data acquisition system of the utility, a distribution management system of the utility and an outage management system of the utility; and

providing in real-time the determined current geographical coordinates of the temporary device within the distance tolerance to the at least one of the supervisory control and data acquisition system, the distribution management system and the outage management system; and

wherein the at least one of the supervisory control and data acquisition system, the distribution management system and the outage management system monitor and control a network topology of the electrical distribution grid in real-time as a function of the provided updated geographical information system model and the determined current geographical coordinates of the temporary device provided in real-time within the distance tolerance.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the temporary device is inserted into the electrical distribution grid and is a jumper between parts of a feeder or connecting a first phase to a second phase on a single line, an applied ground placed on a de-energized section of a line, a mobile substation connected to and supplying electricity to the electrical distribution grid, or a mobile generator connected to and supplying electricity to the electrical distribution grid.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein:

the temporary device is the jumper, the type of the temporary device is a jumper type, and the jumper has a jumper impedance value per foot of linear length;

the jumper is inserted into a feeder line at an insertion point, wherein the feeder has a feeder impedance value per foot length that is lower than the jumper impedance value per foot length; and

the distance tolerance and the specified distance margin are selected as one foot in response to the jumper impedance having a value defined per foot of linear length that differs from the feeder impedance value per foot length.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

determining the current geographical coordinates of the temporary device as the geographical coordinates of a jumper insertion point;

determining a specification length of the jumper from a model specified in the identity indicia; and

updating the geographical information system model of the electrical distribution grid to substitute the jumper for a portion of the feeder line from the current geographical coordinates of the temporary device toward an endpoint consumer over the determined specification length of the jumper.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

determining a beginning set of geographical coordinates of a first end of the jumper that is inserted into the feeder at the insertion point that commences a bypass of the feeder by electricity flowing through the feeder to an endpoint consumer;

determining a termination set of geographical coordinates of a second, other end of the jumper that is inserted into the feeder at the termination point that ends the bypass of the feeder by the electricity flowing through the feeder to the endpoint consumer;

determining a displacement length of the jumper from a displacement distance between the beginning set of geographical coordinates of the first end of the jumper and the termination set of geographical coordinates of the second, other end of the jumper; and

updating the geographical information system model of the electrical distribution grid to substitute the jumper for a portion of the feeder line from the beginning set of geographical coordinates of the first end of the jumper toward an endpoint consumer over the determined displacement length of the jumper.

8. A system, comprising:

a processing unit in communication with a computer readable memory and a computer-readable medium;

wherein the processing unit, when executing program instructions stored on the computer-readable medium via the computer readable memory;

acquires identity indicia for a temporary device that is installed within an electrical distribution grid that is modeled by a geographical information system model of a utility that provides electricity to end users through components of the electrical distribution grid;

determines current geographical coordinates of the temporary device within a distance tolerance that is selected as a function of a type of device indicated by the identity indicia, wherein the current geographical coordinates are three-dimensional coordinates comprising a latitude coordinate, a longitude coordinate and an altitude value;

determines if a unique identity of the temporary device that is indicated by the identity indicia is present within the geographical information system model;

updates the geographical information system model with a location of the unique identity of the temporary device at the determined current geographical coordinates of the temporary device within the distance tolerance, in response to determining at least one of that the unique identity of the device is not present within the geographical information system model, and that a displacement distance from the determined current geographical coordinates of the temporary device to existing geographic coordinates that are stored in the geographical information system model in association with the unique device identity that exceeds a specified distance margin;

wherein the processing unit updates the geographical information system model with the location of the unique identity of the device at the determined current geographical three-dimensional coordinates of the temporary device within the distance tolerance by selecting one of two power lines that share common values of no more than two of a current geographical three-dimensional longitude, latitude and altitude coordinates determined for the temporary device within the distance tolerance as a power line incorporating the temporary device in response to determining a commonality of values of each of the three-dimensional longitude latitude and altitude coordinates for the selected one of the two power lines within the distance tolerance; and

wherein the distance tolerance is less than a vertical or horizontal spacing distance between the two lines that is defined by a difference in corresponding values of the two power lines for at least one of the three-dimensional longitude, latitude and altitude coordinates that are determined for each of the two power lines.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the processing unit, when executing the program instructions stored on the computer-readable medium via the computer readable memory, further:

generates an updated geographical information system model by updating the geographical information system model with the location of the unique identity of the temporary device at the determined current geographical coordinates of the temporary device within the distance tolerance;

provides the updated geographical information system model to at least one of a supervisory control and data acquisition system of a utility, a distribution management system of the utility and an outage management system of the utility; and

provides in real-time the determined current geographical coordinates of the temporary device within the distance tolerance to the at least one of the supervisory control and data acquisition system, the distribution management system and the outage management system; and

wherein the at least one of the supervisory control and data acquisition system, the distribution management system and the outage management system monitor and control a network topology of an electrical distribution grid in real-time as a function of the provided updated geographical information system model and the determined current geographical coordinates of the temporary device provided in real-time within the distance tolerance.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the temporary device is inserted into the electrical distribution grid and is a jumper between parts of a feeder or connecting a first phase to a second phase on a single line, an applied ground placed on a de-energized section of a line, a mobile substation connected to and supplying electricity to the electrical distribution grid, or a mobile generator connected to and supplying electricity to the electrical distribution grid.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the temporary device is the jumper, the type of the temporary device is a jumper type, and the jumper has a jumper impedance value per foot of linear length;

wherein the jumper is inserted into a feeder line at an insertion point, and the feeder has a feeder impedance value per foot length that is lower than the jumper impedance value per foot length; and

wherein the processing unit, when executing the program instructions stored on the computer-readable medium via the computer readable memory, selects the distance tolerance and a specified distance margin as one foot in response to the jumper impedance having a value defined per foot of linear length that differs from the feeder impedance value per foot length.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the processing unit, when executing the program instructions stored on the computer-readable medium via the computer readable memory:

determines the current geographical coordinates of the temporary device as the geographical coordinates of a jumper insertion point;

determines a specification length of the jumper from a model specified in the identity indicia; and

updates the geographical information system model of the electrical distribution grid to substitute the jumper for a portion of the feeder line from the current geographical coordinates of the temporary device toward an endpoint consumer over a determined specification length of the jumper.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the processing unit, when executing the program instructions stored on the computer-readable storage medium via the computer readable memory:

determines a beginning set of geographical coordinates of a first end of the jumper that is inserted into the feeder at the insertion point that commences a bypass of the feeder by electricity flowing through the feeder to an endpoint consumer;

determines a termination set of geographical coordinates of a second, other end of the jumper that is inserted into the feeder at the termination point that ends the bypass of the feeder by the electricity flowing through the feeder to the endpoint consumer;

determines a displacement length of the jumper from a displacement distance between the beginning set of geographical coordinates of the first end of the jumper and the termination set of geographical coordinates of the second, other end of the jumper; and

updates the geographical information system model of the electrical distribution grid to substitute the jumper for a portion of the feeder line from the beginning set of geographical coordinates of the first end of the jumper toward an endpoint consumer over the determined displacement length of the jumper.

14. A computer program product for automatically updating modeling of a distribution network grid in response to real-time, precise location data of uniquely identified temporary devices deployed within the distribution network grid, the computer program product comprising:

a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code comprising instructions that, when executed by a computer processing unit, cause the computer processing unit to;

acquire identity indicia for a temporary device that is installed within an electrical distribution grid that is modeled by a geographical information system model of a utility that provides electricity to end users through components of the electrical distribution grid;

determine current geographical coordinates of the temporary device within a distance tolerance that is selected as a function of a type of device indicated by the identity indicia, wherein a geographical coordinates are three-dimensional coordinates comprising a latitude coordinate, a longitude coordinate and an altitude value;

determine if a unique identity of the temporary device that is indicated by the identity indicia is present within the geographical information system model;

update the geographical information system model with a location of a unique identity of the temporary device at the determined current geographical coordinates of the temporary device within the distance tolerance, in response to determining at least one of that the unique identity of the device is not present within geographical information system model, and that a displacement distance from the determined current geographical coordinates of the temporary device to existing geographic coordinates that are stored in the geographical information system model in association with a unique device identity that exceeds a specified distance margin;

wherein the processing unit is caused to update the geographical information system model with the location of the unique identity of the device at the determined current geographical three-dimensional coordinates of the temporary device within the distance tolerance by selecting one of two power lines that share common values of no more than two of a current geographical three-dimensional longitude, latitude and altitude coordinates determined for the temporary device within the distance tolerance as a power line incorporating the temporary device, in response to determining a commonality of values of each of the three-dimensional longitude, latitude and altitude coordinates for the selected one of the two power lines within the distance tolerance; and

wherein the distance tolerance is less than a vertical or horizontal spacing distance between two lines that is defined by a difference in corresponding values of the two power lines for at least one of the three-dimensional longitude, latitude and altitude coordinates that are determined for each of the two power lines.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the computer readable program code instructions, when executed by the computer processing unit, further cause the computer processing unit to:

generate an updated geographical information system model by updating the geographical information system model with the location of the unique identity of the temporary device at the determined current geographical coordinates of the temporary device within the distance tolerance;

provide the updated geographical information system model to at least one of a supervisory control and data acquisition system of the utility, a distribution management system of the utility and an outage management system of the utility; and

provide in real-time the determined current geographical coordinates of the temporary device within the distance tolerance to the at least one of the supervisory control and data acquisition system, the distribution management system and the outage management system; and

wherein the at least one of the supervisory control and data acquisition system, the distribution management system and the outage management system monitor and control a network topology of the electrical distribution grid in real-time as a function of the provided updated geographical information system model and the determined current geographical coordinates of the temporary device provided in real-time within the distance tolerance.

16. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the temporary device is inserted into the electrical distribution grid and is a jumper between parts of a feeder or connecting a first phase to a second phase on a single line, an applied ground placed on a de-energized section of a line, a mobile substation connected to and supplying electricity to the electrical distribution grid, or a mobile generator connected to and supplying electricity to the electrical distribution grid.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the temporary device is the jumper, the type of the temporary device is a jumper type, and the jumper has a jumper impedance value per foot of linear length;

wherein the jumper is inserted into a feeder line at an insertion point, and the feeder has a feeder impedance value per foot length that is lower than the jumper impedance value per foot length; and

wherein the computer readable program code instructions, when executed by the computer processing unit, further cause the computer processing unit to select the distance tolerance and a specified distance margin as one foot in response to the jumper impedance having a value defined per foot of linear length that differs from the feeder impedance value per foot length.

18. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the computer readable program code instructions, when executed by the computer processing unit, further cause the computer processing unit to:

determine the current geographical coordinates of the temporary device as the geographical coordinates of a jumper insertion point;

determine a specification length of the jumper from a model specified in the identity indicia; and

update the geographical information system model of the electrical distribution grid to substitute the jumper for a portion of the feeder line from the current temporary asset geographical coordinates of the temporary device toward an endpoint consumer over the determined specification length of the jumper.

19. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the computer readable program code instructions, when executed by the computer processing unit, further cause the computer processing unit to:

determine a beginning set of geographical coordinates of a first end of the jumper that is inserted into the feeder at an insertion point that commences a bypass of the feeder by electricity flowing through the feeder to an endpoint consumer;

determine a termination set of geographical coordinates of a second, other end of the jumper that is inserted into the feeder at a termination point that ends the bypass of the feeder by the electricity flowing through the feeder to an endpoint consumer;

determine a displacement length of the jumper from a displacement distance between the beginning set of geographical coordinates of the first end of the jumper and the termination set of geographical coordinates of the second, other end of the jumper; and

update the geographical information system model of the electrical distribution grid to substitute the jumper for a portion of a feeder line from the beginning set of geographical coordinates of the first end of the jumper toward an endpoint consumer over the determined displacement length of the jumper.