Electricity is one of the most transformative resources in existence. It plays a vital role in homes, shops, factories, and transportation systems. While most of the people in the world benefit from reliable electricity without giving it a second thought, many still live without it. Even those with seemingly reliable energy can unexpectedly lose it, as the September 20, 2017 landfall of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico and the subsequent decimation of the island's electrical grid demonstrated. The ability to assess the susceptibility of the local electrical grid to an unexpected calamity might help prevent grid collapse and reduce humanitarian and economic loss. This effort pursues such a capability. \n\n Lights connected to the grid flicker at twice the grid frequency. The amount of flicker is typically small, and the rate is much too fast to be seen by the eye, so it usually goes unnoticed. However, this flickering becomes evident when observed using a high-speed video camera, and can be used to probe for information about the underlying grid. This effort will develop custom software designed to process slow-motion video acquired with an inexpensive camera to identify anomalous lights within a scene. An image of the scene overlayed with details of the anomalous character of the lights will be a powerful tool for assessing the state of the power grid. \n\n Solid State Scientific Corporation (SSSC) is pleased to propose this Phase II SBIR program to develop and demonstrate a capability for remotely assessing the status of electrical grids based on the illumination from lights powered by those grids. The Phase II effort seeks to anticipate impending grid failure providing timely information so that authorities can prepare for the associated socio-economic repercussions of such events. The basis for the proposed effort is the successful Phase I effort, under which tools for analyzing lights in a scene were developed and demonstrated.
