Connected devices are disrupting numerous industries, with the power utility sector being no exception. Power utility companies currently confront four primary challenges arising from the proliferation of the Internet of Things (IoT):
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Vendors are increasingly connecting machines, controllers, HMIs, and SCADA systems to the cloud, promising enhanced analytics and insights for predictive and preventative maintenance. However, due to strict quarantine policies governing critical assets, power companies often cannot leverage these new IoT features provided by machine and controller vendors.
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As the cost of solar and wind power microgrids continues to decline, utility companies face shrinking revenue from traditional power generation. To offset this loss, companies must aggressively pursue new revenue streams, such as Energy Management as a Service for homes, Energy Storage as a Service, grid services for EV charging, grid services for peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading between homes, microgrids, and batteries, among others. Facilitating these transactions requires smart metering, smart grids, and secure transactions enabled by Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) such as IOTA. Furthermore, utilities are exploring the provision of smart city services to municipal authorities.
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For critical infrastructure like dams, ICOLD (International Committee of Large Dams) mandates real-time Structural Health Monitoring (SHM). This enables early warning of potential collapses in dams, rock faces, or tunnels, allowing time to evacuate affected populations.
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An emerging revenue opportunity lies in EV charging within parking facilities—specifically, how IoT can facilitate smart charging and intelligent parking solutions.
Over the past three years, IoT engineering has undergone massive transformations, primarily driven by tech giants such as Microsoft, Google, and Amazon. These industry leaders have invested billions into developing IoT platforms that are easier to manage and more secure. IoT edge computing has gained significant momentum in both research and deployment as the primary method for practical IoT implementation. Additionally, 5G promises to revolutionize the IoT business landscape. Consequently, there is unprecedented funding for new areas of IoT research. For any practicing engineer, it is essential to understand the IoT platforms developed for major players like AWS, Google, and especially Microsoft.
However, none of these major platforms offer an exhaustive or fully comprehensive solution for scalable IoT. Deploying smart meters to millions of homes, for instance, requires additional technologies to secure the meters, radio networks, IoT management tools, and numerous other secured services. The strategy, cost, and security of any IoT deployment must be optimal and acceptable. Given the interdisciplinary nature of this knowledge, it is nearly impossible for any single company to assemble a team capable of meeting all requirements independently.
This course is a modest attempt to educate key decision-makers, developers, and security experts on the challenges, risks, and practical approaches to deploying IoT for next-generation power utility business models.
Furthermore, scalable deployment has made managing IoT services for thousands of sensors and connections an emerging engineering research subject. Formerly known as managed IoT services, this field is experiencing rapid growth because the challenges of scalable IoT management are significantly greater than simply building the systems. This includes securing over-the-top firmware/software updates, managing sensor and system calibration, auto-diagnosing connection issues, identifying the root cause of API failures, and tracking the hardware and service health of distributed systems.
Course objectives
The main objective of this course is to introduce emerging technological options, platforms, and case studies of IoT implementation in power utility companies, covering smart metering, smart cars, SHM (structural health monitoring), power quality diagnosis, and smart contracts. It provides a basic introduction to all elements of IoT, including mechanical components, electronic/sensor platforms, wireless and wired protocols, mobile-to-electronics integration, mobile-to-enterprise integration, data analytics, and control plane applications.
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IoT Technology Stacks: Devices, Gateways, Edge, Edge Cloud, Public Cloud, IoT databases, Web & Mobile Applications for IoT, Centralized vs. Decentralized IoT
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IoT ecosystem for business, third-party device management, and risk management of the entire IoT ecosystem
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M2M Wireless protocols for IoT: WiFi, SigFox, LORA, LPWAN, Zigbee/Zwave, Bluetooth, ANT+ - Guidelines on when and where to use each
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Fundamentals of IoT Gateways: Risks, Management, and Ecosystem
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Mobile/Desktop/Web apps for registration, data acquisition, and control – Overview of available M2M data acquisition platforms for IoT: AWS IoT, Azure IoT, Google IoT
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Security issues and solutions for IoT – Review of security across all technology stacks
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Enterprise IoT platforms such as Microsoft Azure IoT Suites, AWS IoT, Google IoT, Siemens MindSphere
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Smart Metering, Open Smart Grid Protocols (OSGP), ANSI C 2.18 Protocols, NIST Standard for HAN (Home Area Network), Home Plug Powerline Alliance, Security Standard for Smart Meter: IEC 62056
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Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) such as Blockchain, HyperLedger, and DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph) for smart contracts, P2P transactions, and smart car charging
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IoT applications for critical infrastructure: Dams, Transformers, Sub-stations, High Tension Wires
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