The Societies of Computation (SoC) [1][3] is a research project at the University of Karlskrona/Ronneby in Sweden. In a joint effort with Sydkraft, a major Swedish power distribution company, technologies for automating the power distribution process are studied. The goal is to make the distribution process flexible and robust to load changes, re-configurations, faults, etc. (Distribution Automation - DA), and to offer new services to customers, such as the choice between different levels of service and even between different suppliers (Demand Side Management - DSM). Furthermore, and perhaps the most challenging, the goal is to exploit a new infrastructure for Home Automation (HA), integrated with the DA/DSM system. The physical electric grid is used for communication, and small and simple pieces of hardware are plugged into wall-sockets and lamp-sockets, operating as interfaces to appliances, or are integrated within them. Basic techniques for this is in the process of being standardized. Our challenge is therefore to develop methods for using this infrastructure in terms of computation and communication, thus creating truly plug-in software. Computation in this environment is thus distributed en masse, and changes are unpredictable; there exists no generic way of describing the total system at any one point in time.

The first phase of the joint project, called DA-SoC, takes an agent-oriented approach to distributed computing, and it includes the definition of an agent architecture, an agent language, and a programmable model of interaction [2]. A Windows testbed is implemented for programming of agents in a simulated environment.

In the second phase, our goal is to create a full scale test environment in the city of Ronneby for DA/DSM and HA, as described above. The joint project is called Information, Society, and Energy Systems (ISES). There are a number of participants, including Ronneby Community, Ronneby Energy AB, EnerSearch AB, IBM Utility, Sydkraft AB, PreussenElectra AG, ABB Network Partner, and the university of Karlskrona/Ronneby. We also have connections in this work with a number of other universities and European Community projects, such as Attach and PDWeb.

The special interest for our research group in this large project is to further exploit our agent-based technology for this application. We have now identified two specific tasks: direct load balancing in the distribution grid, and distributed decision islands for business oriented as well as technical decision making. In these areas we are convinced that the agent paradigm can be fruitful, and we believe that it will show even more generic.

References

[1] Gustavsson et al., Societies of Computation (SoC) - A Framework for Open Distributed Systems, Phase II: 1995-98, University of Karlskrona/Ronneby, research report 8/95, 1995.

[2] Hägg and Ygge, Agent Oriented Programming in Power Distribution Automation - An Architecture, a Language, and their Applicability, Lund University, LUNFD6/(NFCS-3094)1-180/(1995), 1995.

[3] Societies of Computation, Internet home page, http://www.sikt.hk-r.se/~soc.