Building Controls Virtual Test Bed

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This wiki describes the specification and the implementation of the Building Controls Virtual Test Bed (BCVTB). The BCVTB is based on the [http://ptolemy.berkeley.edu/ptolemyII/index.htm Ptolemy II] software environment. The BCVTB allows to couple different simulation programs for distributed simulation of control algorithms and of HVAC, CHP and refrigeration systems.

Examples of such programs are [http://www.energyplus.gov EnergyPlus], [http://www.mathworks.com/products/simulink/ MATLAB/Simulink], a [http://www.modelica.org Modelica] simulation environment and a [http://www.bacnet.org/ BACnet] compliant Building Automation System (BAS). In addition to using programs that are coupled to Ptolemy II, Ptolemy II's graphical modeling environment can also be used to define system models for physical devices, communication systems or for post processing and real-time visualization. This coupling middleware allows non-expert EnergyPlus users to extend EnergyPlus' capabilities for controls simulation and for system simulation.

Typical applications include:

Examples are provided with the BCVTB that show how to do distributed simulation. In the examples, we linked the following programs to the BCVTB:

The C and Fortran 90 simulation program are provided to show developers how to couple a new program to the BCVTB. Such a coupling can be done by calling two C functions that are provided as part of the BCVTB need to be called. The BCVTB also contains examples that show how control models can be implemented directly in Ptolemy II using Ptolemy II's graphical model editor. The control examples include a heterogeneous system consisting of a discrete time controller with a Finite State Machine.

In future versions, we plan to couple a Modelica simulation environment for which we plan to develop a library for building energy systems (see https://gaia.lbl.gov/virBui). This will allow advanced users to

We will also couple a BACnet compliant Building Automation System to the BCVTB. This will allow testing supervisory control sequences using an EnergyPlus model to assess the energy and comfort performance of different supervisory control algorithms. It will also allow formal verification of control sequences before deployment to a building.

Contact

Philip Haves and [:MichaelWetter:Michael Wetter]BR Lawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryBR [http://btech.lbl.gov Building Technologies Department]BR {PHaves, MWetter}@lbl.gov

Note that you can edit almost any page on this wiki in order to contribute to this effort. See HelpForBeginners to get started.