Smart Power Device Discovery for Unified Plant Energy Configuration
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Configuring smart power and energy devices in industrial facilities is a time-consuming and error-prone process, especially in large-scale environments, due to the need for manual individual setup using energy management software.
Innovation Solution
A power device discovery and visualization system that automatically identifies, categorizes, and configures smart power and energy devices across an industrial enterprise, providing a unified interface for accessing and managing all discovered devices, reducing the time and effort required for configuration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If manual individual setup is used for smart power and energy devices, then configuration accuracy can be ensured, but the configuration time and labor required increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service configuration by allowing smart devices to automatically register themselves with the energy management system. Devices transmit their identifiers and capabilities autonomously, eliminating the need for manual configuration while maintaining accuracy through standardized data collection protocols.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-defining device profiles and configuration templates for different types of smart devices. When a device is discovered, the system automatically applies the appropriate pre-configured template, reducing configuration time while ensuring consistency and accuracy through standardized parameters.
2Ease of manufacture
If manual configuration of smart devices is performed, then device-specific settings can be precisely configured, but the complexity and error rate increase in large-scale environments
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses copying by creating digital twins or virtual representations of smart devices. Configuration settings can be copied from template devices to multiple actual devices, ensuring consistency across the network. This reduces manual configuration effort while maintaining reliability through standardized copying processes that minimize human error.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements universality by creating a unified configuration interface and standardized data models that work across different device types and manufacturers. This universal approach simplifies the configuration process for operators while reducing errors through consistent validation rules and error handling mechanisms applicable to all devices.
3Ease of operation
If individual device management is used, then detailed control over each device is achieved, but the time and effort required for unified management increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges individual device management capabilities into a unified energy management platform. Multiple smart devices are aggregated under a single system interface, allowing operators to manage numerous devices simultaneously. This combining approach maintains detailed device-level control while dramatically improving management efficiency through batch operations and centralized monitoring.
Solution Approach 2:
The system adds another dimension to device management by organizing devices hierarchically into groups, zones, and facilities. This multi-dimensional organization allows operators to manage devices at different levels of abstraction - from individual device control to facility-wide analytics - improving productivity by enabling simultaneous management across multiple dimensions without losing detailed control capabilities.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A power device discovery and visualization system identifies and categorizes smart power and energy devices deployed within an industrial enterprise, and generates interfaces that render customized presentations of a plant's power and energy usage based on data retrieved from the discovered devices. The system also facilitates remote configuration of the discovered smart devices via interaction with a single consolidated interface that affords access to all discovered power and energy devices. The system constructs a device profile for each discovered smart device based on information retrieved from the device, and categorizes each discovered device according to device type (e.g., power meter, IED, VFD, controller, etc.). The system retrieves available historical, real-time, and/or configuration data from each discovered smart device and makes this data available for viewing or modification via the system interface, thereby unifying plantwide power and energy data into a common presentation.