Andrew Cloete

Machine-to-machine (M2M) communication for intelligent domestic electric water heaters
Masters in Engineering Student

My project consists of two distinct yet complementary parts. The first part focuses on machine-to-machine (M2M) communication. The release of the first global M2M standards by ETSI in 2013 (and the latest release in 2015 by OneM2M) paved the way for cross-domain interoperability. For this part I use the OM2M platform, an open-source implementation of the ETSI standards, to seamlessly interconnect measurement sensors on 10 domestic electric water heaters (DEWH). This implementation enables extensible near-realtime demand side management (DSM) strategies for EWH’s.
The second part of the project focuses on finding an optimal heating schedule for DEWH’s. The aim is calculate a heating schedule that uses minimal electrical energy, while maintaining user satisfaction i.e. supplying warm enough water for the duration of usage. A model of the DEWH will be used for temperature forecasting. The data collected from the 10 experimental units will also be analysed in order to gain a better understanding of user behaviour so as to illuminate further strategies for optimization.