Using a Multi-Agent System for Monitoring Indicators of Quality of Service in Power Distribution Networks

In this work we describe the Service Quality Multi-Agent System (SQ-MAS), a software developed using a multi-agent system platform to register failures in electric power distribution networks allowing the real-time calculation of several service quality indexes supervised by the Brazilian National Electric Agency (ANEEL). We introduce some basic concepts of generic MAS in order to illustrate the complexity of the problem related with the propagation of faults across the distribution network. The main features of SQ-MAS are listed and the calculation of the monitored indexes is addressed. A case study consisting of an Operation Unit of Petrobras, at Bahia State, Brazil, is used to illustrate how the system works.