j0ntan / CCNY-SG-Load

Control system for CCNY's Smart Grid Load

CCNY Smart Grid Load

The Smart Grid Load (SG-Load) is a resistive, variable load component of the smart grid testbed at the Smart Grid Lab in the City College of New York. This project implements a control system for the SG-Load that allows:

• Setting the value of 3-phase AC loading to a balanced or unbalanced state.
• Varying the amount of loading for a DC source.
• Automating the amount of loading over time according to a load profile.

Getting Started

This section summarizes the steps needed to upload the control system sketch to the Arduino and begin using the SG-Load through the keypad interface.
Note: The Arduino should already have the latest sketch version uploaded. The installation steps are only needed when debugging or upgrading this sketch.

Install & Run

1. Download or clone ( git clone https://github.com/j0ntan/CCNY-SG-Load.git ) the repo into your Arduino sketchbook location directory, which may be under {YourUserName}\Documents\Arduino on a Windows machine.
2. Install the New LiquidCrystal library, which replaces the usage of the default LCD library.
3. Open & upload the CCNY_Smart_Grid_Load.ino sketch using the Arduino IDE.
4. Switch the Arduino to external power and observe the LCD startup message to verify the sketch upload.

Basic Input

The simplest way to control the SG-Load is with the front-panel keypad. Let's say we want to set up an unbalanced load at the AC terminals, with 10 switches turned ON for phases A & B, but only 9 for phase C. We can enter the sequence A10B10C9, or equivalently AB10C9, followed by the ENTER key (#), to activate this configuration.

The Arduino can also take input from an XBee-connected PC or the lab's dSPACE controller. These methods are slightly more complex and their descriptions are reserved for the wiki.

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For further details on the installation & build process, system configurations and working with the SG-Load, check out the wiki documentation.