Files
Download Full Text (340 KB)
Abstract
Objective: Idaho University has implemented a power grid simulator game as a teaching aid for students enrolled in their Resilient Control Systems course. The game was created in LabView and requires the user to download the LabView client, as well as install the Grid Game on their machine in order to play. Our goal is to recreate the Grid Game in a Java based web-browser format so that the game is more accessible and easy to use. By recreating the Grid Game in a format that can be played in browser, other universities, companies, and individuals will easily be able to coordinate lessons and competitions, or just learn how control systems work, quickly and easily without too much overhead. Also, since Java is a more popular format than LabView, there will be more opportunity for others to expand and improve upon our design.
Approach: At the beginning of the project, we mainly focused on the physics behind the game rather than the playability aspect. Since none of our team members had any experience with grid architecture, most of our design method involved us meeting and talking our way through the equations needed to get the background physics to work. Once we had a grasp on the physics, we divided up work amongst ourselves, adding more functionality as we progressed.
Interim Results: As of the end of the first semester, we fully implemented and tested, using an INL dataset provided by Mr. McJunkin, the Swing equation. We then added power storage functionality and generator control in order to allow the user to balance the Swing equation via a basic UI. Some other “game” aspects were included to flesh out the prototype a little more, including a basic scoring system and the ability to buy more generators.
Anticipated Results: Next semester we plan on creating a more involved scoring system, connecting to an INL server to pull data and communicate and compete with other players, and improve upon our UI design. There has also been some interest in porting the game to an Android mobile platform, which we believe will be fairly simple to do.
Publication Date
2015
Keywords
computer science, power grid simulator
Disciplines
Computer Engineering | Engineering
Faculty Advisor/Mentor
Milos Manic
VCU Capstone Design Expo Posters
Rights
© The Author(s)
Date of Submission
July 2015