SAP IoT Prototype Challenge 1 Notes

The prototype, made on build.me, contains a lot of red question mark icon like this:

This icon, and the text next to him, is obviously not part of the UI. These marks are made to provide contextual information on the behaviour of the prototype. Interaction cannot be realized on build.me so the text next to the icon is here to explain how the interaction should occurs or what is the purpose on the UI just below. So please take time to read them because they will help you to understand the UI.

2 The Story

Nowadays the main energy used is Electricity. Electricity cannot be efficiently stored on big/huge volume. Full cycle of storing and then retrieving electricity is complicated and profitable only in special situations like islands. Find on the right the schema of the electric installation of El-Hierro

island:

On the other side, every one expect that light get on when turning the switch. With such constrains, Electricity

production has to adapt to electricity consumption.

To do so, for several decades, mechanism of forecast (predict consumption from previous years of habit and

weather information) & ramp-up strategies (because you cannot start a nuclear power plant as you start an hydraulic power station) were/are used. The ramp-up strategies are

based on power plant that use expendables (like fuel, coal, gaz,

uranium or even water). Now with green electricity the amount of energy produced is no longer fully under control. Green Electricity production should also subject to forecast (sun time, wind force, tide calculation, …).

This model has limits and many blackout occurs around the world with some, like in Italy in 2003, that has affected the whole country and takes days to restore. When power shortage

(consumption peak and maximum production reached) occurs dramatic decision must be taken like cutting electricity, for a limited area (millions of persons), to prevent complete country blackout. This cut of electricity could be avoided if electricity could be partially cut at consumer level like stopping boiler, water heater, air conditioner, Car reloading... for the time needed to pass the consumption peak. Please find the global

electric schema of the proposed IoT solution on your left.

3 The point of view

“As a responsible government, I know that I’m must find a way

to manage electricity consumption in order to prevent blackouts

and to use as much as possible green electricity.” Also the customer’s Point of View (secondary role):

“As a responsible person, I would like to have a way to reduce

my electricity consumption when needed in order to prevent

blackouts and dirty electricity usage.”

4 The Persona

5 The user Experience

Actions

Get

forecast

Get

maintenance

list

Contact

medias

Brief my

team

Monitor

network

(sometimes)

Get power

failure

(sometimes)

Cut

electricity

End of

alert

Prepare

tomorrow

Min

d-s

et

“What’s today’s temperatures?”

“What are the today’s power plant maintenance? What is our total power?”

“Is there a risk? Do I need to communicate with medias?”

“Give the forecast and maintenance to the team”

“Monitor consumption and production during peak times”

“Oh! Sh…! We’ve got an unexpected power failure. Production is decreasing...”

“..We must react. Cut Britain area until restoration is possible”

“Peak is over now, power has been restored. We prevent the country blackout.”

“Tomorrow will be an easier day?”

Feeling

Touch P

. Web site Planning Phones

emails

Meeting room

Dashboard

Dashboard

Phone

Computer Coffee break

Web Site

Planning

Stefanie POWERS

Minister of Electricity

20 years of experience in transport of electricity and electricity meters.

Everyone do its part of duty

while having a power shortage,

so all keeps electricity on.

Ensure transport of electricity

Consider power plant maintenance

Adapt to power plant failure

Forecast electricity consumption

Raise alert to media to change population behaviours

Power plant responsible, weather precisionist

Ensure electricity is provided to as much as possible homes

Spread consumption during the night to prevent carbon

generation

Transport electricity on the shortest distances

A way to react in real-time

Transparency with consumer, prevent cheat I

I I

I I

Can only cut electricity on wide areas

Cannot reduce/limit home by home electricity consumption

Cannot reward made on saving electricity (limitation of its own

consumption) A way to forecast and, if required, adjust

consumptions

6 Prototypes

There is two roles in the IoT application:

1. The network side 2. The home side

At home side the UI is expected to be on the smart meter it-self. There is only one UI with as many tabs as there is

controlled power supply lines (Red to Purple in §1).

For the network side, the UIs are organized within a Fiori launch pad like this:

1. Automated Task Management and definition: a. Emergency Reaction Plan UI do exists (1 screen) b. Power increase Reaction Plan UI is explained but do not exists

2. Analyse Consumption: (use Big Data) a. Consumption Explorer UI do exists (5 screens) b. Smart Advisor UI is explained but do not exists

3. Periodic Processing Jobs: a. Periodic jobs planning UI is explained but do not exists

Please find the page map to helps you understand the way they are organized:

The red boxed page is the UI for the customer at his home directly on his smart meter screen. Please take time to see each page and feel free to click on all controls. There is some messages behind most of them to explain the reaction on

your clicks (because on build.me no interaction is possible and interactions are part of the UI design).

Please find the build.me link to test the prototype.

The prototype is here and the Study is there. It also could be found in the Build.me gallery with the name: Smart Meter.

The level of exploration in the “Consumption Explorer” corresponds the requirements described in §7 (Core and Edge). Here are the levels (and respective icons):

Country

Department (City)

Region (State) Districts

Please find the screenshoot of the customer UI:

And the lowest level screen of Consumption Explorer:

7 Core and Edge

Consumption reduction goals should be sended from the central point (where the gouvernment autority takes the decision) to several (10 to 100) areas (region, state, …). Each area split it’s own goal into several city (10 to 100) goals. Each city split it’s own goal into serveral disctricts (10 to 100) goals…. Until individual home goal. For consumption

meters the flow is the exact oposit and at each level (district, city, region) agregation occurs to reduce volume returned to the core.

Goals are based on usual consumption, current consumption, global effort to ensure, ect… When goal is not archived and power shortage is annouced and then a cut will occurs on region/cities where goal is not reach. Starting from the one with the worst score(the one farested to the orignal goal) and cut will be proceed after a broadcast announce to the target homes’s smart meter. In the UI we displayed a simpliest version where region are pré-ordered for rhe cut sequence. What we describe here is at smart meter level and so is finnested than cut a entire region.

With such organisation Core and Edge principles are fullfill and real-time (fast reaction time on power plant failure) is ensure.

8 Evolutions

This solution could evolve to a “bonus / penalty” system in order to reward (money refund) for real behaviours changes when power shortage is announced and, on the opposite, provide penalty (money taken) for those who do not change their behaviours. Automated response (change in the consumption behaviours) could occurs by defining automated rules like:

1. Allow cut of water heater during 10h to 24h and from 00h to 04h 2. Allow boiler stop if inside temperature is more thant 15°C

Price change during peak times could be annouced thourght the smart meter and automated rules could is price as a

decision maker :

1. Keep modules while price is lower than : M1(0.9€), M2(0.85€), M3(0,8€) …

This is an evolution (sofistication) of the condition and limit rules that are described in the provided UI.

9 IoT Components

The main IoT’s components that will be involved in this “Smart Meter” are:

1. MCB : Main Circuit breaker

2. SM : Smart or Simple Meter

3. DCB : Differential Circuit Breaker 4. CCB : Commanded Circuit Breakers

5. TS : TouchScreen

The MCB (1) and the SM (2) are often outside of the house, while DCB (4) is often part of the customer’s switchboard:

So in such situation, either previous MCB and Meter should be “doubled” (one outside like before and one in the smart meter) or the one a outside should be removed.

The TouchScreen (5) and Commanded Circuit Breakers (4) are innovating components required by the IoT to allow

“Network Control”.

Please find the IoT technical architecture:

This actual smart meter only have one output and disconnection occurs when consumption (in Ampere) exceed the one recorded in the agreement with the energy provider. With several output lines both costumer no longer should

have full disconnection if consumption limit is reached, and “Network Control” could also improve invoice price by using

low price energy (when no shortage risk could occurs) instead of using energy as soon as required.

10 Security & communication Aspects

The disconnection command send from the network down to the smart meter must have signature mechanism that authenticate the origin of the message. The signature must but light enough to be controlled easily with the low CPU power on the smart meter and high enough to be secure. The certificate, used to control the signature, could be removed

by the customer (preventing all future disconnections) at any time from the smart meter UI.

The certificate could only be deployed from a central secured store with the validation of the customer (no UI in

prototype for that yet).

The communication from the IoT to the Central or local Network is made like this:

The communication from the customer’s home to the local hub is made using the Power Line current technology that

allow to communicate by using the existing cables that provide the power supply. At the local Hub, communications are gathered using/installing a Ethernet hubs and, then, is routed to the regional office using one of the possible solutions:

Mobile network : GPRS to 4G Power Line current again up to a “big Hub” VPN over internet

The regional office is connected to the central office by a WAN (Wide Area Network).

11 Future IoT Local Network

In the future, we could expect a communication standard based on Power Line Current arise. In this standard each device announce his consumption and might request for authorisation. The provided model here will no longer require Commanded Circuit Breaker and so will no longer be limited to 8 lines. Each device will be like a line and the

Consumption pattern will be already know (announced by the device it-self). Forecast will be easier to predict and consumption could be postpone at device level.

12 Sources

The UI has been made as far as possible on real data collected from different official sources:

1. French Ministry of sustainable development : Production-Distribution de l'énergie électrique en France et dans les régions en 2005 et 2006.

2. INSEE : The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies 3. Google Maps 4. Wikipedia 5. French government sites : gouv.fr

Computation (projections) have been made on excel to provide realistic data as much as possible. However, chart fulfilment process is quite heavy and chart duplication has been used. Please apologize any incoherent date you might found on this demo.

13 Thanks

Thanks for you time and your review. Please apologize for the english terms used here. I guess they are not fully suitable, but I do not find better ones as English is not my mother language.