Application of object oriented techniques in a modular expert system architecture for transmission system monitoring and control

This paper presents research done by the National Grid to producing an expert system, SYSMON, to automate the function of a junior control engineer. The design of the overall system consists of various modules for data acquisition, online analysis, predictive applications, human computer interface and a series of specific expert system modules. Underlying these functional modules is a coordinating system which passes data between the modules and presents this data to the interface subsystem for display. Details of two of the expert system modules are given by Knight et al (1994); this paper concentrates on the application of object oriented database management systems (OODBMS) within this project. Using an OODBMS system a prototype model of parts of the network has been constructed. This model comprises a database class library of power system components together with their functional behaviour. Prototype interfaces to access, display and maintain this database have also been developed. Experiences gained through this work are identified.