Iterative Facility Exclusion for Optimal Power Line Positioning

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Solution Overview

Problem

The existing methods for designing positioning configurations of power facilities, such as the round-robin method and know-how approaches, result in an enormous amount of calculation and uncertainty about the optimality of the determined configuration.

Innovation Solution

A positioning configuration design device and method that iteratively excludes facilities from multiple locations, sets feasible configurations, and updates exclusion and non-exclusion lists to determine an optimal configuration with reduced calculation, using a positioning configuration setting unit, feasibility confirmation unit, exclusion candidate list updating unit, and non-excludable list updating unit.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If the round-robin method is used to examine positioning configurations, then all possible configurations can be evaluated, but the amount of calculation becomes enormous (on the order of n!)

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecompleteness of configuration evaluationVSAvoidamount of calculation

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts and removes facilities one by one from the initial configuration where facilities are positioned at all stations, systematically evaluating which facilities can be excluded while maintaining voltage requirements. This extraction approach avoids the factorial complexity of round-robin methods by focusing on incremental removal rather than exhaustive permutation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent segments the facility exclusion process into iterative steps, where in each iteration one facility is excluded at a time and feasibility is checked. This segmentation transforms the overwhelming n! calculation problem into manageable sequential evaluations, reducing computational burden while still achieving optimal configuration identification.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

2Ease of operation

If the know-how method is used to design facility positioning, then the design process is simpler, but it is unclear whether the determined configuration is optimum

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesimplicity of design processVSAvoidoptimality of configuration

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent incorporates feedback through iterative feasibility confirmation, where each facility exclusion is evaluated against voltage requirements, and results are used to guide subsequent exclusions. This feedback mechanism ensures that the simplified iterative process still achieves optimal configuration by continuously verifying against operational constraints.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The patent performs preliminary action by initially positioning facilities at all stations, then systematically excluding them in subsequent iterations. This preliminary complete configuration provides a safe starting point that guarantees voltage requirements are met, from which optimal minimal configurations can be derived through controlled exclusion.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Reliability

If facilities are positioned at all stations initially, then voltage requirements are easily satisfied, but the number of facilities and installation cost increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvevoltage requirement satisfactionVSAvoidnumber of facilities

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts unnecessary facilities from the initial all-stations configuration by systematically excluding facilities one by one and checking feasibility. This extraction process reduces the number of facilities and installation costs while maintaining voltage requirement satisfaction through iterative verification.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent changes the parameter of facility quantity from the initial state (facilities at all stations) to the optimal state (minimal facilities) through iterative exclusion. Each exclusion step modifies the facility configuration parameter while maintaining voltage constraints, ultimately achieving cost reduction without sacrificing reliability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentUS20230191951A1Positioning configuration design device, positioning configuration design method, and program

Publication Date: 2023.06.22 MITSUBISHI HEAVY IND LTD

AI summary

This positioning configuration design device includes a positioning configuration setting unit that excludes facilities which are likely to be able to be excluded from facilities respectively positioned at a plurality of locations and sets a positioning configuration of the facilities; a feasibility confirmation unit that judges whether predetermined conditions are feasible or not in the set positioning configuration of the facilities; an exclusion candidate list updating unit that registers, in an exclusion candidate list, information of the facilities excluded in the positioning configuration in which the conditions are feasible, a non-excludable list updating unit that registers, in a non-excludable list, information of the facilities excluded in the positioning configuration in which the conditions are not feasible; and a control unit that repeatedly executes confirmation processing including setting of the positioning configuration and judgment of feasibility of the conditions while incrementing the number of facilities to be excluded one at a time until a positioning configuration in which the conditions are feasible and no further facilities are able to be excluded is able to be calculated.