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EMBEDDED DATABASES HELP MAKE GRIDS SMARTER
Electrical supply grids are having to become smarter so that they can self-optimize
and improve their overall efficiency. Steinar Sande, CEO of database technology
specialist company, Raima, Inc. of Seattle, explores how embedding controllers
around a grid can help measure power flows, demand requirements etc. and leads to
real-time management for best performance.
Wind, solar, tidal and hydropower generation facilities are becoming increasingly
mainstream as generating companies are developing alternatives to traditional fossil
fuels and nuclear power. Integrating these assets into the supply grid has presented
several new challenges, often based on the fact that generating capacity is based on
variable wind speed, sun level and water flow. As a result, engineers are also looking
for new ways to manage power flows, peak demands, etc.
Within a grid it is usual that the various power generation sites are somewhat distant
from one another and also some distance from the controlling operations centre.
Therefore, control of the generating site must be achievable, remotely.
Raima has worked with a number of partner companies including LocalGrid
Technologies, from Mississauga, ON and global company National Instruments to
develop a complete microgrid control solution.
Energy demand is growing, both in the developed and the developing world, as
populations grow and urbanize, and economic activity matures. Therefore, power
supplies more than ever need to be reliable, affordable and increasingly incorporate
renewable energy sources.
Some electricity grids are 75 or even 100 years old; others have been poorly
maintained over many years, so find it difficult to meet the ever-increasing demand.
Therefore, the issues can be expressed as a need to improve the capability of
electrical grids to meet demand, which is predicted to continue growing for many
years.
Options for a large-scale rebuilding of the power delivery infrastructure are limited;
instead, innovative new technologies that convert existing grids into smart flexible
solutions that can be implemented over time seem to be the way forward.
The partner companies are addressing this requirement by creating a complete
microgrid control solution, based on NI CompactRIO hardware. The software runs on
embedded controllers deployed in key points in the grid, distributing intelligence and
decentralized decision-making out to the remote devices and distributed energy
resources.
The objective is to create a platform for securely managing power flow, peak load,
distributed generation, and other energy assets using real-time data collection,
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analytics, and control on a distributed intelligence network, pushing the decisionmaking out into the network, increasing the system's fault-tolerance. This solution is in
fact a scalable architecture, which can be deployed on both large and small grids, and
is able to grow (or contract) with the needs of the operator.
Each device deployed to the network exhibits certain key features including highspeed data capture, high-speed logging, event detection, protocol translation
(including Modbus, DNP3, IEC61850, and other custom protocols), custom control
processing, custom control algorithm deployment processing, built-in security, and
remote device management. In addition, the open architecture allows expansion of the
system and ensures interoperability.
Fundamental to the design is embedded database technology. The core of the solution
is a secure distributed data management system, in which each remote device stores
its own local data in an internal encrypted database. The data from each device can
be configured to flow up to a higher storage capacity device installed in a substation,
operations centre, or other major node within the grid.
As the technology is based on NI CompactRIO embedded controllers, it is natural to
use NI LabVIEW software for most of the embedded development to be deployed on
VxWorks and Linux®-based operating systems. Further, many grid operators run
Windows, so there is a need for a cross-platform, highly flexible database solution that
also supports encryption.
For this, an embedded database with a native LabVIEW API–Raima Database API for
LabVIEW, implemented with RDM Embedded 12, is used. This provides a database
management solution, specifically designed for applications deployed on NI
CompactRIO and NI Single-Board RIO devices.
Stand-alone operation is therefore possible because the database resides in the
LabVIEW data directory. It offers extended functionality to share data between multiple
targets – whether sharing information between NI CompactRIO devices or outside
computers.
The Raima Database API for LabVIEW provides programmers with a way to quickly
and easily design data management functionality into their software applications, using
an intuitive and easy-to-use programming interface that is familiar to them.
Rugged and reliable, with fast, high performance, Raima Database API for LabVIEW is
available on the LabVIEW Tools Network and is the first database to deliver relational
data management locally, on real-time NI CompactRIO devices. One or more NI
CompactRIO or NI Single-Board RIO devices may store and share data without
requiring connectivity to external database servers. Events may be logged and
queried, streams may be captured and configurations may be shared through Raima
functions.
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The database technology supports VxWorks and support for the NI Linux Real-Time
targeted platforms is now available, which was important for LocalGrid. Furthermore,
its small footprint means it can run on a variety of embedded systems in field devices
that may have very limited resources.
"RDM Embedded is fast, flexible, and designed for embedded targets allowing us to
base our entire system around a single database product with native support for
LabVIEW," comments Beauregard. "This will simplify our design and reduce errors or
unknowns during development."
Development of this innovative platform is moving forward quickly including multiple
field trials. The Raima embedded database has been one of the keys to the progress
of this development project.
Raima is a provider of high performance, always on database management system
technology for both in-memory database usage and persistent storage devices. It
delivers database solutions which are cross-platform, small footprint database systems
designed for distributed architecture in resource-constrained environments.
LocalGrid provides a next-generation approach to solving one of the biggest
challenges of our time – increasing the reliability of electrical grids to meet the growing
needs of the 21st century. It is transforming power delivery through smart, flexible
solutions designed to evolve in sync with the way we produce and consume energy –
today and in the future. National Instruments equips engineers and scientists with tools
that accelerate productivity, innovation, and discovery to meet not only grand but also
daily engineering challenges in an increasingly complex world.
Photo Captions
Photos 1+2: Wind, solar, tidal and hydropower generation facilities are becoming
increasingly mainstream as generating companies are developing alternatives to
traditional fossil fuels and nuclear power. Integrating these assets into the supply grid
has presented several new challenges, often based on the fact that generating
capacity is based on variable wind speed, sun level and water flow.
About Raima
Raima delivers high-performance, always on database technology for both in-memory
database usage and persistent storage devices. Raima’s core focus is to develop
database management solutions for everything from small, embedded devices up to
enterprise level hardware systems.
The Raima Database Manager (RDM) products are cross-platform, small footprint, fast
and reliable database solutions which are made to collect, store, manage and move
data. They are used worldwide in a wide range of data management solutions in
industries such as industrial automation systems, military flight control systems,
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telecom routers & switches, financial trading systems, medical equipment, data
backup solutions, consumer electronic devices and more.
All products feature solid and reliable ACID compliant database technology and
employ a number of advanced solutions to meet today’s complex data management
challenges. Examples are moving data from small low-powered embedded devices up
into larger enterprise systems, building highly-available database systems, database
partitioning support to facilitate data distribution and scalability, and interfaces allowing
access to the data from a range of external sources.
Raima Database Manager (RDM) products include options to meet a variety of data
management architectural designs by providing a choice of data models and access
methods to solve the most stringent performance requirements.
For more information on RDM or to download the SDK for evaluation visit:
raima.com/products
Editor Contact
DMA Europa Ltd : Anne-Marie Genth
Tel: +44 (0)1562 751436
Fax: +44 (0)1562 748315
Web: www.dmaeuropa.com
Email: [email protected]
Reader Contact
Raima Inc. : Steinar Sande, CEO, Raima Inc.
Tel: +47 970 75600
Fax: +1-206-748-5200
Web: www.raima.com
Email: [email protected]
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