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Google Earth Used To Predict Electrical Problems

Posted by samzenpus on from the what-can't-it-do dept.

coondoggie writes "What do you get when you combine images from Google Earth and the brainpower from researchers at Oak Ridge National Labs? Well in this case you get a tool that enables real-time status of the national electric grid that federal state and local agencies can use to coordinate and respond to major problems such as wide-area power outages, natural disasters and other catastrophic events. The Visualizing Energy Resources Dynamically on Earth (VERDE) system, announced this week, mashes together images and stats of everything from real-time status of the electric grid and weather information to power grid behavior modeling and simulation."

30 of 91 comments (clear)

  1. I predict... by gardyloo · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...that posting such a story will inspire lots of slashdotters to go download or access Google Earth, and cause electrical problems.

    1. Re:I predict... by davester666 · · Score: 5, Funny

      that Google Earth will be declared a threat to Homeland Security, and taken offline. :-(

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  2. Next project? by VoltageX · · Score: 5, Funny

    Managing Energy Resources Dynamically on Earth (MERDE).

    Oui oui!

    --
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    1. Re:Next project? by aproposofwhat · · Score: 2, Funny

      Something Happening In The Electrics (SHITE)

      --
      One swallow does not a fellatrix make
  3. Wha? by ejdmoo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How exactly does Google Earth predict *anything* at all?

    What it seems is someone wrote software to analyze the electrical grid, and they use the Google Maps API to visualize the geographic data.

    Yay.

    1. Re:Wha? by Amorymeltzer · · Score: 3, Interesting

      It's definitely a dubious title, especially since TFA says almost nothing about Google. I suppose, though, that they are technically using Google Earth in their predictions, because without it they'd have to write their own/use Mapquest. I'm sure a big part of it is getting to attach Google's name to something no one outside the department and government is really interested by, and I bet Google's happy to step in. Besides, GE is probably really nice to visualize their data with. Distance from major cities or energy producers, weather, temperature, terrain, etc.

      --
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    2. Re:Wha? by Atario · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Where does anything say Google Earth is predicting anything? All I see is "...used to predict...".

      Don't let that stop you from ostentatiously acting bored, though.

      --
      "A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be a great democracy." --Theodore Roosevelt
    3. Re:Wha? by houghi · · Score: 4, Funny

      It sounds less sexy then Maps used to show location

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  4. simple google by twotailakitsune · · Score: 4, Insightful
    This is what, the 100th idea using Google Maps/Earth? they are just using the Google Maps API. Google is more open with people using Maps without paying some big Usage fee.

    What this is really about is the VERDE program. Now if Google was doing a real time status program I would have it sit on my screen all day.

    1. Re:simple google by jaminJay · · Score: 5, Funny

      Now if Google was doing a real time status program I would have it sit on my screen all day.

      That way, when the screen goes black, you'd know the power went out?

      --
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    2. Re:simple google by SimonGhent · · Score: 4, Funny

      That way, when the screen goes black, you'd know the power went out?

      Or that the sun went down. There's just no way to tell.

      --
      simon
    3. Re:simple google by Homer's+Donuts · · Score: 2, Insightful

      When the lights get dimmer, the voltage is going down.

      They watch meters real time, predict load based on averages. This weeks load, time of day, last years load,etc. Oh, and they watch the Weather Channel.

      Failure prediction? They know what loads have caused failure before. Believe it or not, higher temps and loads (i squared r) cause the wires to stretch. They fail when they come in contact with earth(tree branches,etc) that causes a huge load swing. At 345,000 volts, wood is a conductor.

      So a prediction model is new. That is if someone buys and uses it. I've seen multi-floor knife switches that look like they belong in a Frankenstein movie, and an operating turbine with a swastika on the cover.

      So this should be in widespread use by what? 2020? Or about a month after someone in Illinois sells power to someone in New Jersey and puts his generator online even though the system operator tells him not to. And the grid goes down. Again.

      So I have a prediction: The utilities will fail to fix what is really wrong, a lack of infrastructure to deliver power, until the grid fails again.

      I can also predict who is going to pay for it.

  5. just a question by silentphate · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If this is such a major development, why is it just now being created? Haven't we had the technology to do something like this for decades?

  6. I am skeptical... by bogaboga · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You know why? It is because data and images from Google Earth are not that up-to-date. In fact, several [new] roads in my county are not shown on Google Earth and Google Maps! So I am skeptical. Am I alone?

    1. Re:I am skeptical... by cencithomas · · Score: 4, Funny

      I believe you can get more up-to-date information by purchasing Google Earth Plus or Google Earth Pro. Not positive though and the comparison page doesn't seem to specify.

      ...in retrospect, this comment is not nearly as helpful as I'd hoped.

      --
      ...'tis easier to blame than to improve.
    2. Re:I am skeptical... by alextmqazwsx · · Score: 5, Informative
      Referenced from here: Google Earth

      *Note: While Google Earth Plus has additional capabilities, the underlying imagery is the same for all versions of Google Earth.

    3. Re:I am skeptical... by hcdejong · · Score: 2, Insightful

      For this application, I suspect it doesn't need to be. They want to have a general idea of which area an event takes place in. Full accuracy (e.g. the street address of the affected transformer) is only needed at lower level, and they should have mechanisms in place for that already.

  7. Sim City Stats by neostorm · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I am still waiting for Google Earth to fully encompass the feedback offered in games like Sim City, where I can search regions around the world for such things as Crime Statistics, Pollution, Economy, etc.

    There are plenty of other areas we can display information as well. They've already got traffic, terrain and now this. I am currently relocating to a new area as well, and actually tried to get crime stats on potential areas I'd be living in (thinking they may have already achieved that ability), they haven't got them yet, but I hope my wish list is not too far away.

    1. Re:Sim City Stats by littlerubberfeet · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I was researching crime before a move as well. I was stuck using an absolutely horrible web-enabled wannabe GIS thing. Having used ArcGIS, I know what a decent GIS is capable of. Google Earth is well on its way to being able to display information the way ArcView does. A buffer wizard type tool would be a wonderful thing in Google Earth...The analytical side of things is not really suitable for the Google Earth architecture though.

      Yeah, Google would do well to integrate even census data (which includes some crime, pollution and economic data) into Google Earth.

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  8. HUH??? by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 3, Informative

    Okay, I can see "recent" data... but anybody who really thinks that Google Earth is "realtime" is a serious candidate for the Happy Home.

    Some of the pictures are over 6 YEARS old...

    1. Re:HUH??? by kerashi · · Score: 5, Informative

      The google earth maps may not be updated, but the maps are just a backdrop upon which the data is displayed.

    2. Re:HUH??? by powermacx · · Score: 2, Funny

      Do you *want* realtime Google Earth?

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPgV6-gnQaE

      ;-)

  9. Google Used To... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Google Earth Used To Predict Electrical Problems

    Too bad they don't anymore!

  10. How do I view it without electricity? by Xoc-S · · Score: 4, Funny

    If there is a power outage, how am I going to fire up my desktop machine and view Google Earth?

  11. too late by Digitus1337 · · Score: 3, Funny

    The LHC goes online in just under a day; Google Earth is going to be obsolete, so how is this newsworthy?

    1. Re:too late by Whiney+Mac+Fanboy · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The LHC goes online in just under a day; Google Earth is going to be obsolete

      Google Earth is an interactive map & the LHC is a particle accelerator. Frankly, I don't see wtf one has to do with the other (or how one could obsolete the other)...

      --
      There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
  12. Anyone else misread the title as by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Google Earth Used To Predict Electoral Problems?

    And I'm not even American...

  13. The real news by hcdejong · · Score: 3, Insightful

    is that this is news at all:

    Major power outages in the United States over the past decade have a recurring theme - the lack of wide-area situational understanding was a key factor that contributed to blackouts.

    (emphasis mine)

    How can you expect to manage something as complex as a continental power grid without having the data you need? It's not like this capability has only recently become available.

  14. Links, video, and a follow-up program? by martyb · · Score: 2, Funny

    Here's a bit more detail from the ORNL web site: http://www.ornl.gov/info/ornlreview/v40_3_07/article13.shtml and http://www.ornl.gov/sci/electricdelivery/vis_VERDE.html where there are links to: VERDE video (WMV 81.2MB) (13m 54s)

    In the first-listed link above, I found this:

    "Major power outages in the United States over the past decade have a recurring theme--the lack of wide-area situational understanding," says Tom King, manager of electric transmission and distribution technologies for ORNL's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Program. (emphasis added)

    As a follow-up, I hear they are planning a "Wide-Area Situational Understanding Program", aka WASUP! :)

  15. Crime stat methodologies vary ... by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 2, Informative

    I am still waiting for Google Earth to fully encompass the feedback offered in games like Sim City, where I can search regions around the world for such things as Crime Statistics, Pollution, Economy, etc.

    The method of collection of such statistics varies by country, so they are not easily comparable.

    One that I'm familiar with (from activism related to gun laws): Murder, accident, and suicide statistics. For instance:

      - Britain counts it as a murder when they have a conviction. US when they have a body in suspicious circumstances.

      - Father kills his three kids, wife, and himself: US: Four murders one suicide. Japan: Five suicides.

      - In many places in the US a suicide, especially of a youth, will usually be reported as an accident (to avoid placing a stigma on the bereaved family).

    I could go on. (Especially about Japan and variations on so-called "family suicide".) But I think the above examples show how directly comparing published rates for the US, England, and Japan can yield some very bogus impressions.

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