PhD thesis defense of David Oudart on May 7 2020: “Model driven engineering applied to Smart Grids design: Cosimulation with FMI approach”
Model driven engineering applied to Smart Grids design: Cosimulation with FMI approach
Abstract
Smart Grids are cyber-physical systems that interface power grids with information and communication technologies to monitor them, automate decision making and balance production with consumption. We want to use simulation to easily evaluate and compare several solutions before deployment in a real environment. The objective of this thesis is thus to propose tools and methods to model and simulate a Smart Grid in an industrial context. We have identified two main issues: How to combine heterogeneous models of a Smart Grid to simulate it? How to ensure consistency between the models produced by different stakeholders during the design of a Smart Grid? To address these issues, we propose a cosimulation approach, using the Functional Mockup Interface (FMI) standard. Our first two contributions are the proposal of a method to allow the exchange of discrete signals between several FMUs, and an extension of the OMNeT++ telecommunications simulation software implementing this method, called fmi4omnetpp. A third contribution is the development of the Smart Grid Simulation Framework tooled environment, which automates a number of repetitive tasks in order to ensure consistency between different simulation models. Finally, a fourth contribution is the formalization of an iterative design approach for the cosimulation of a Smart Grid, and how to integrate our Smart Grid Simulation Framework into it. To do so, we explain the different steps of the approach and the role of the actors involved in the design process, then we present its application to a real case study for which we use our Smart Grid Simulation Framework.
New paper “A Model based Toolchain for the Cosimulation of Cyber-physical Systems with FMI” at MODELSWARD’2020
A Model based Toolchain for the Cosimulation of Cyber-physical Systems with FMI by D. Oudart, J. Cantenot, F. Boulanger and S. Chabridon
Abstract Smart Grids are cyber-physical systems that interface power grids with information and communication technologies in order to monitor them, automate decision making and balance production and consumption. Cosimulation with the Functional Mock-up Interface standard allows the exploration of the behavior of such complex systems by coordinating simulation units that correspond to the grid part, the communication network and the information system. However, FMI has limitations when it comes to cyber-physical system simulation, particularly because discrete-event signals exchanged by cyber components are not well supported. In addition, industrial projects involve several teams with different skills and methods that work in parallel to produce all the models required by the simulation, which increases the risk of inconsistency between models. This article presents a way to exchange discrete-event signals between FMI artifacts, which complies with the current 2.0 version of the standard. We developed a DSL and a model-based toolchain to generate the artifacts that are necessary to run the cosimulation of the whole system, and to
detect potential inconsistencies between models. The approach is illustrated by the use case of an islanded grid implementing diesel and renewable sources, battery storage and intelligent control of the production.
