Australian Challenges in the Digital Future

Hugh Durrant-Whyte
CEO NICTA

Digital Futures 2011 Slide 1

Digital Futures 2011 Slide 2
 Australian Challenges in the Digital Future

• Exemplars
• Remote Operations
• Smart Infrastructure
• Environment Stewardship

• Technology Challenges
• Communication
• Information
• Computation

Digital Futures 2011 Slide 3

 Remote Operations

• Remote systems challenges

• Operations and control
• Collaboration and management
• Safety and maintenance
• Industry sectors
• Logistics
• Mining
• Agriculture
• Infrastructure

Digital Futures 2011 Slide 4

 Remote Logistics at Port of Brisbane

Digital Futures 2011 Slide 5

 Remote Logistics Challenges

• Communication
• Network scalability
• Safety and integrity
• Information
• Situational awareness
• Maintenance
• Computation
• Control
• Planning

Digital Futures 2011 Slide 6

 Remote Mining: Business

• Business drivers
• Safety and productivity
• Precision and efficiency
• Business philosophy
• Automation of complete mining cycle – total benefit
• Vertical integration into mining business

Digital Futures 2011 Slide 7

 Remote Mining: Technology

Architecture Data Fusion Automation

Digital Futures 2011 Slide 8

 Architecture = Information and Control

Plug-in architecture and standards for all OEM compon

Digital Futures 2011 Slide 9
 Information
Sensor and Measurement Data
In-Ground Data Fusion Model
Blasthole Gamma CEPN/644/17

Gamma
0 20 40 60 80 100

Fused Models
0

Depth
6

Data Request Common operating

picture
10

(COP) 12

Data Deliver

Data Fusion engines

MPC
Manager

Central Data Storage:

Multiple Spatial Scales
statistical information Register
Data

Best Possible Mine Model Available in Real Time

Digital Futures 2011 Slide 10
 Control

Digital Futures 2011 Slide 11

 ROC: Remote Operations Centre

• Total Operations:
• Mine
• Plant
• Rail
• Port

Digital Futures 2011 Slide 12

 Remote Drilling Operation

Digital Futures 2011 Slide 13

 Remote Material Movement

Digital Futures 2011 Slide 14

 Remote Mining Challenges

• Communication
• Mobile Networks
• Safety and integrity
• Information
• Diverse sensors
• Complex equipment
• Computation
• Mine picture generation
• Planning

Digital Futures 2011 Slide 15

 Smart Infrastructure

• Infrastructure
• Smart Grid
• Smart Water
• Smart Transport

• Technology Challenges
• Communication
• Information
• Computation

Digital Futures 2011 Slide 16

 Diverse Transmission Network

Digital Futures 2011 Slide 17

 Diverse Generation Sources

• Traditional Centralised
• Coal, Gas, Hydro
• New Distributed
• Wind, Solar, Geothermal

• Technology challenges
• Source control
• Sink control
• Network management

Digital Futures 2011 Slide 18

 Future Smart Grid Architecture

Communication, Information, Computation

Ref: A.Ipakchi and F.Albuyeh, IEEE Power & Energy Magazine, Special Issue on the Next-Generation Grid, Vol.7, No.2, 2009

Digital Futures 2011 Slide 19

 Future Grid Characteristics
20th Century Grid 21st Century Smart Grid
Electromechanical Digital

One-way communications (if any) Two-way communications

Built for centralised generation Accommodates distributed generation

Radial topology Network topology

Few sensors (limited to Zone SCADA) Monitors and sensors at all levels of T&D network

“Blind” Self-monitoring & timely

Manual restoration Semi-automated restoration and, eventually self-

healing

Prone to failures and blackouts Adaptive protection and islanding

Check equipment manually Monitor equipment remotely

Emergency decisions by committee and phone Decision support systems, predictive reliability

Limited control over power flows Pervasive control systems

Limited price information Full price information

Few customer choices Many customer choices

Digital Futures 2011 Image courtesy of Ausgrid Slide 20

 Smart Grid Smart City (SGSC)

• Empower customers … information,

tools and pricing to better manage
individual energy usage, costs and
emissions
• Reduce peak energy demand …
delay the need for infrastructure.
• Reduce utility operating costs …
while improving the ability to
respond to customers
• Improve service reliability …
technology, tools and processes to Image
courtesy of
manage the system better and AEMO (then
NEMMCO)
restore outages more quickly
SGSC: An Australian Government project 2010-2013
Digital Futures 2011 Slide 21
 Applications to be demonstrated

Digital Futures 2011 Image and words courtesy of Ausgrid Slide 22

 Smart Infrastructure

• Smart Water
• Water Information Network (WIN)
• Critical Pipe Management
• Irrigation Control
• Smart Transport
• Intelligent Fleet Logistics (IFL)
• Smart Transport and Roads (STaR)
• …
• Common Technology Drivers
• Communication
• Information
• Computation
Digital Futures 2011 Slide 24
 Environment

• Unique Australian Data

• Terrestrial Ecosystems (TERN)
• Marine Observatory (IMOS)
• Geological data (AuScope)
• Atlas of Living Australia (ALA)
• Wide Application
• Agriculture, Fisheries and Resources
• Environment Stewardship
• Understanding Long-term Climate
• Science and Education
• Critical Technology
• Communication – remote sites
• Information – massive cloud data sets
• Computation – feature discovery

Digital Futures 2011 Slide 25

 Integrated Marine Observatory (IMOS)

5 Nodes and 11 Facilities

Digital Futures 2011 Slide 26
 IMOS – Gliders and Floats

Digital Futures 2011 Slide 27

 AUV: High-Res Marine Data Acquisition

Digital Futures 2011 Slide 28

 Relic Reefs on the Great Barrier Reef

3D model of drowned shelf edge reefs at the entrance to Flor

(Image courtesy of Beaman and Webster, JCU)

Post-Glacial Sea Level Rise (Image courtesy of R Rohde)

Digital Futures 2011 Slide 29

 Nocturnal Cuttlefish Camouflage

AUV Surveys of cuttlefish spawning

grounds and cuttlefish spawning behaviour
(Image courtesy of R. Hanlon, MBL)

Digital Futures 2011 Slide 30

 Terrestrial Environment and Agriculture

Digital Futures 2011 Slide 31

 Australian Challenges in the Digital Future

• Unique opportunities and challenges

• Large-scale, remote operations
• Massive spatially distributed data
• Real-time control and management
• Driving technologies in
• Communication
• Information
• Computation
• Application in Australian industries

Digital Futures 2011 Slide 32

Digital Futures 2011 Slide 33