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- Why is the task being done?
- To limit energy consumption and profit from extra energy generated
- What does the user need to know or have before doing the task?
- Understanding of energy usage of plant
- Understanding of smart grid and the means of reselling energy
- Where is the task performed?
- On site at the office/plant
- Remotely, on nights/weekends
- What is the environment like? Noisy, dirty, dangerous?
- Plant and warehouse are noisy and dangerous
- Office space is quiet, safe
- How often is the task performed?
- Daily
- What are its time or resource constraints?
- Should use minimal time, so executives/facilities managers can attend to other aspects of their jobs
- How is the task learned?
- Training
- What can go wrong? (exceptions, errors, emergencies)
- An error in which there is not enough energy to power machinery in the plant would be problematic, leading to lost profit
- Who else is involved in the task?
- Plant, warehouse, and facilities managers; potentially other executives
Related Links:
http://www.umeter.me/services_en.jsp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8WuHjLPz2U
Model Details
- Start with a simple model--input/output
- To avoid emergencies, set a default buffer (20%?)--amount extra to save
- Need to find a balance in the amount of detail to show to users by default
- Need to find a balance between letting the program make decisions and letting the users make decisions
- Tasks:
- Monitor energy consumption of each device, and aggregate consumption
- Allow custom grouping of devices
- Make sure naming distinguishes devices, in the case that there are multiple devices of the same type
- Hierarchical structure of grouping allows scalability
- Be able to sort by consumption over a certain period of time
- Control devices
- Turn on and off
- Change settings
- Control remotely, not necessarily from the same network
- Schedule operation
- View price information received from grid
- Save and display in a parallel format to the monitoring pane
- Sell generated power back to utility company
- Specify a time, assuming they have a battery or some kind of storage
- Configure application
- Discover new devices
- Configure and receive notifications about energy usage and pricing
- Set a password
- Monitor energy consumption of each device, and aggregate consumption