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In contrast with conventional microgrids (MGs) with fixed boundaries, a smart and flexible MG with dynamic boundary is introduced in this paper. Such a MG can dynamically change its boundary by picking up or shedding load sections of a distribution feeder depending on its available power, leading to more flexible operation, better utilization of renewables, smaller size of energy storage system, higher reliability, and lower cost. To achieve a flexible MG, the main challenges in MG design are addressed, including recloser placement, MG asset sizing considering resilience, system grounding design, and protection system design. Meanwhile, a hierarchical structure is employed to design and implement the MG controller. On top of the functions defined in IEEE 2030.7-2018, a few new functions, e.g., online topology identification and PQ balance, are added, while the planned/unplanned islanding and reconnection functions are enhanced. The controller is implemented on a CompactRIO, a general-purpose hardware platform provided by National Instruments (NI), and tested on a controller hardware-in-the-loop setup based on an OPAL-RT real-time simulator and a reconfigurable power electronic converter-based hardware testbed. The test results have validated the performance of the developed controllers. Such a flexible MG and its controller have been deployed at a municipal utility, and part of the controller’s functions have been tested on-site.

Most signals in modern vehicles which are transmitted from sensors to control units or actuators are transmitted via bus. The most common automotive data bus is Controller Area Network(CAN). Some of transmitted signals are speed of the vehicle, engine speed and coolant temperature which are used for visualization of Skoda Octavia instrumental cluster. For this visualization, CAN BUS communication is filtered and processed, to obtain three message objects to observe required data. For data acquisition from bus is used modular system CompactRio with module for CAN BUS from National Instruments. The whole application is created in visual programming language LabVIEW using FPGA module.