Power event identification with distributed computing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12506358-B2
Application number	US-202318320785-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 19, 2023
Priority date	May 19, 2023
Publication date	Dec 23, 2025
Grant date	Dec 23, 2025

Abstract

Information about power events on the electrical grid may be determined by processing reports of power anomalies from power monitors installed at various points on the electrical grid, such as in buildings of end users of electrical power. A power monitor may process sensor measurements of the power line to determine that a power anomaly has occurred. The power monitor may transmit information about the power anomaly, such as the time and location, to a processing location. The processing location may select power anomaly reports having a similar time and location to determine information about a power event that caused the power anomalies. The information about the power event may include the type, time, and location of the power event. A notification may be sent about the power event to facilitate repairs and reduce risks, such as the risk of electrical fires.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method, comprising:
receiving a first power-anomaly report about a first power anomaly from a first power monitor, wherein:
the first power monitor is at a first building, and
the first power-anomaly report includes (i) first location information about the first building and (ii) first time information about the first power anomaly;
receiving a second power-anomaly report about a second power anomaly from a second power monitor, wherein:
the second power monitor is at a second building, and
the second power-anomaly report includes (i) second location information about the second building and (ii) second time information about the second power anomaly;
determining a first power-anomaly type for the first power anomaly by processing the first power-anomaly report with a classifier; determining a second power-anomaly type for the second power anomaly by processing the second power-anomaly report with the classifier; selecting a subset of power-anomaly reports from a plurality of power-anomaly reports using location information and time information, wherein the plurality of power-anomaly reports includes the first power-anomaly report and the second power-anomaly report; and determining a power-event type and a power-event location of a power event using the subset of power-anomaly reports.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first location information comprises one or more of an address, a zip code, an internet protocol address, or a media access control address.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the first power-anomaly type comprises processing weather information with the classifier.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first power-anomaly type is one or more of a series high-impedance fault, a series arc fault, a parallel arc fault, a parallel low-impedance fault, malformed power, or power loss.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the classifier comprises a recurrent neural network or a transformer neural network.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the classifier comprises a decision tree.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the subset of power-anomaly reports comprises selecting power anomalies using a time-difference threshold and a location-difference threshold.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the subset of power-anomaly reports comprises using a power-anomaly type.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the power-event type is one or more of malformed power from solar panels or a battery, malformed power from a consuming device, malformed power from grid supply, power loss, a parallel fault from vegetation, a series fault from a loose or corroded connection, or power theft.

10 . A system, comprising at least one server computer comprising at least one processor and at least one memory, the at least one server computer configured to:
receive a first power-anomaly report about a first power anomaly from a first power monitor, wherein:
the first power monitor is at a first building, and
the first power-anomaly report includes (i) first location information about the first building and (ii) first time information about the first power anomaly;
receive a second power-anomaly report about a second power anomaly from a second power monitor, wherein:
the second power monitor is at a second building, and
the second power-anomaly report includes (i) second location information about the second building and (ii) second time information about the second power anomaly;
determine a first power-anomaly type for the first power anomaly by processing the first power-anomaly report with a classifier; determine a second power-anomaly type for the second power anomaly by processing the second power-anomaly report with the classifier; select a subset of power-anomaly reports from a plurality of power-anomaly reports using location information and time information, wherein the plurality of power-anomaly reports includes the first power-anomaly report and the second power-anomaly report; and determine a power-event type and a power-event location of a power event using the subset of power-anomaly reports.

11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the subset of power-anomaly reports includes a power-anomaly report received from a distribution transformer or a substation.

12 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the first power monitor is installed in a first electrical meter that measures power usage of the first building.

13 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the first power monitor is installed in a first electrical panel of the first building.

14 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the at least one server computer is configured to determine the first power-anomaly type by processing data from a temperature sensor and/or a humidity sensor.

15 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the at least one server computer is configured to send a power-event notification.

16 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the at least one server computer is configured to present, on a map, the first location information, the second location information, and the power-event location.

17 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the at least one server computer is configured to determine the first power-anomaly type for the first power anomaly by processing information about a state change of a device in the first building.

18 . One or more non-transitory, computer-readable media comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed, cause at least one processor to perform actions comprising:
receiving a first power-anomaly report about a first power anomaly from a first power monitor, wherein:
the first power monitor is at a first building, and
the first power-anomaly report includes (i) first location information about the first building and (ii) first time information about the first power anomaly;
receiving a second power-anomaly report about a second power anomaly from a second power monitor, wherein:
the second power monitor is at a second building, and
the second power-anomaly report includes (i) second location information about the second building and (ii) second time information about the second power anomaly;
determining a first power-anomaly type for the first power anomaly by processing the first power-anomaly report with a classifier; determining a second power-anomaly type for the second power anomaly by processing the second power-anomaly report with the classifier; selecting a subset of power-anomaly reports from a plurality of power-anomaly reports using location information and time information, wherein the plurality of power-anomaly reports includes the first power-anomaly report and the second power-anomaly report; and determining a power-event type and a power-event location of a power event using the subset of power-anomaly reports.

19 . The one or more non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 18 , wherein the power-event location corresponds to a location inside the first building.

20 . The one or more non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 18 , wherein the power-event location corresponds to a vicinity of the first building and the second building.

21 . The one or more non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 18 , wherein the first power-anomaly report comprises current samples or voltage samples of an electrical sensor.

22 . The one or more non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 18 , wherein the first time informati

Assignees

• Sense Labs Inc

Inventors

• Fishburn Matthew William
• Zavaliagkos George
• Phillips Michael S

Classifications

• H02J13/12 Primary

  Monitoring network conditions, e.g. electrical magnitudes or operational status · CPC title

• G01R19/2506

  Arrangements for conditioning or analysing measured signals, e.g. for indicating peak values (G01R19/003 takes precedence); Details concerning sampling, digitizing or waveform capturing (displaying waveforms G01R13/00; analog sampling G01R19/0053) · CPC title

• G01R19/2513

  Arrangements for monitoring electric power systems, e.g. power lines or loads; Logging · CPC title

• G06F1/305 Primary

  in the event of power-supply fluctuations · CPC title

• H02J13/00002 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic