Resilient Information Architecture Platform for the Smart Grid: A Novel Open-Source Platform for Microgrid Control

H. Tu, Y. Du, H. Yu, Abhishek Dubey, S. Lukic, G. Karsai

IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics 2020

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Why This Matters

Distributed microgrid control systems are critical for modern power distribution but face challenges in bridging the gap between simulation and real-world deployment. RIAPS is innovative because it provides a unified open-source platform that eliminates the need for proprietary solutions while supporting practical requirements such as real-time synchronization, fault tolerance, and standardized communication protocols. The platform enables rapid prototyping and deployment of complex distributed algorithms on real hardware.

What We Did

This paper presents RIAPS, a novel open-source platform for implementing and deploying distributed microgrid control systems. RIAPS provides a component-based architecture with hardware-agnostic deployment capabilities, hard real-time features through Linux PREEMPT_RT, comprehensive communication frameworks, and high-precision time synchronization. The platform supports IEEE 2030.7 standard microgrid functions and includes tools for developing, testing, and deploying real-time distributed control algorithms.

Key Results

RIAPS successfully demonstrated distributed secondary control capable of synchronizing and proportionally compensating system voltage unbalance caused by unbalanced loads in microgrid scenarios. The platform achieved high-precision time synchronization with minimal jitter and latency, enabling coordinated control across multiple distributed computing nodes. The system demonstrated the key features of the platform including node synchronization, implementation of distributed consensus algorithms, and fault-detection and recovery mechanisms.

Full Abstract

Cite This Paper

@article{riaps2020,
  author = {Tu}, H. and {Du}, Y. and {Yu}, H. and {Dubey}, Abhishek and {Lukic}, S. and {Karsai}, G.},
  journal = {IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics},
  title = {Resilient Information Architecture Platform for the Smart Grid: A Novel Open-Source Platform for Microgrid Control},
  year = {2020},
  number = {11},
  pages = {9393-9404},
  volume = {67},
  abstract = {Microgrids are seen as an effective way to achieve reliable, resilient, and efficient operation of the power distribution system. Core functions of the microgrid control system are defined by the IEEE Standard 2030.7; however, the algorithms that realize these functions are not standardized, and are a topic of research. Furthermore, the corresponding controller hardware, operating system, and communication system to implement these functions vary significantly from one implementation to the next. In this article, we introduce an open-source platform, resilient information architecture platform for the smart grid (RIAPS), ideally suited for implementing and deploying distributed microgrid control algorithms. RIAPS provides a design-time tool suite for development and deployment of distributed microgrid control algorithms. With support from a number of run-time platform services, developed algorithms can be easily implemented and deployed into real microgrids. To demonstrate the unique features of RIAPS, we propose and implement a distributed microgrid secondary control algorithm capable of synchronized and proportional compensation of voltage unbalance using distributed generators. Test results show the effectiveness of the proposed control and the salient features of the RIAPS platform.},
  contribution = {colab},
  tag = {platform},
  keywords = {microgrid control, distributed systems, real-time systems, IEEE 2030.7, platform architecture, deployment services}
}
Quick Info
Year 2020
Keywords
microgrid control distributed systems real-time systems IEEE 2030.7 platform architecture deployment services
Research Areas
energy CPS middleware scalable AI
Search Tags

Resilient, Information, Architecture, Platform, Smart, Grid, Novel, Open, Source, Microgrid, Control, microgrid control, distributed systems, real-time systems, IEEE 2030.7, platform architecture, deployment services, energy, CPS, middleware, scalable AI, 2020, Tu, Du, Yu, Dubey, Lukic, Karsai