-Caveat Lector- The Measure of Power By Alan Leo June 28, 2001 Non-intrusive load monitoring gives detailed views of where power is going, with payoffs for utilities, customers and maybe Big Brother. California's winter of rolling blackouts left its citizens outraged, its utilities in crisis and its politicians pointing fingers. Enter Steven Leeb and Les Norford, two MIT professors with a plan to help electricity suppliers and consumers figure out where power is going and how to conserve it. Leeb, a professor of electrical engineering, and Norford, a professor of architecture, are working together to test a system called non-intrusive load monitoring, or NILM (rhymes with "film"), which uses a wallet-sized blue box, a PC and some very advanced software to measure fluctuations in voltage and current hundreds of times each second. Using complex algorithms, the system's software analyzes these minute fluctuations to identify a building's electrical "load"—the individual machines drawing power off the line, be they light bulbs, air conditioners or a washing machine. The system is "non-intrusive," explains Leeb, because it attaches to the outside of a power cable running into a building. Truly Smart Sensing While "smart meters"—devices that gather detailed data about electricity in a home or business—have been around for years, researchers call NILM a major leap over existing technology. Most smart meters in use today must be connected to the power line, which makes installation expensive. And such systems take only a few measurements per minute—or per hour. By taking hundreds of samples each second, the new monitoring technique can present a far more detailed, high-resolution picture of electricity use. "It's like a microscope," says Mary Ann Piette, a staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab in Berkeley, CA, where researchers are testing the system. "You're looking at very minute info from the signal data." A NILM prototype currently monitors washing machines in an MIT dorm, display ing the results on the Internet. "See that?" exclaimed Leeb during a recent demonstration. "Someone just turned on a drier!" cont'd at http://www.techreview.com/web/leo/leo062801.asp <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
