George-Andrei Ursan, Octavian Postolache, Maria Ursan, Emil Vremera, J. M. Dias Pereira
USING THE CAN PROTOCOL FOR CLIMATE CONTROL SYSTEM IN AUTOMOTIVE INDOOR MONITORING

This paper presents the design and implementation of CAN (Controller Area Network) nodes as part of the Climate Control Systems. The proposed Climate Control System is developed as following of the main characteristics of the CAN protocol in data transfer and of the new generation smart transducers key characteristics in order to rich the requirements concerning the indoor air quality (IAQ) in cars park.

Daniele Gallo, Carmine Landi, Mario Luiso, Pietro Merola
A DSP MEASURING SYSTEM FOR WIND MONITORING

Renewable energies such as wind power are becoming more and more widespread, but the reliable operation of future energy supply structures, with high share of distributed generation and renewable energy sources, is an important and highly complex task, due to the output power fluctuation of the renewable energies that may cause excess variation of voltage or frequency of the grid. The availability of information about wind direction and speed is an important information in order to control, or to predict, the generated output power of large wind farm. In this paper, the planning, the realization and the characterization of a measuring instrument able to calculate wind direction and speed in real-time is presented. The system in future development will also be charged by typical tasks of a smart meter, so high computational power and fast data transmission will be required. For these reasons, a digital signal processor (DPS) based architecture and real-time communication protocols and library (Real Time Data Exchange - RTDX) were chosen. In the prototype implementation, the instrument is interfaced to a host PC that stores and shows the received data with a proper software program implemented in Labview environment. So, the main advantage is the possibility to monitor the time of flight in real time using a low expenditure of power and cheap instrument. Finally, some preliminary experimental results about characterization and precision of a prototype of the proposed instrument are shown.

Jan Dvořák, Jiří Novák
ROUTING ALGORITHM FOR POWER LINES

This paper presents new routing protocol designed for use in AMR and AMM systems using powerline communication (PLC) for data collecting and network control at their last mile. First part of the paper describes the AMR and AMM systems and the reasons for their implementation. Further the narrowb and powerline communication as relatively simple way for data transfers at the last mile is shown and briefly described. Power-line channel characteristic implies a need of a network layer protocol implemented in the PLC nodes for such large-scaled narrowband PLC networks. In the next part simple routing protocol algorithm based on minimal energy consumption is presented. Finally the paper describes simulation software used for protocol design and its functional validation. Power line channel model used in simulator is described in detail.

Hrvoje Pandžid, Darjan Bošnjak, Igor Kuzle, Marin Boškovid, Damir Ilić
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SMART METERING SYSTEMS FOR ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION IN CROATIA

The smart metering system is used for the remote measurement of measurands for a purpose of billing, and to process and transmit measurement results. Generation and transmission of measurement information by electric impulses has already been used at summarizing billing meters where the base meter is equipped with the impulses generator which directly or indirectly emits impulse to a master summarizing meter. The application of more developed remote meter reading systems has intensified in the last decade of previous century. Today, most of distribution companies in Europe use remote meter reading systems to read the electricity consumption of industrial facilities on medium and high voltage level of distribution.
The smart metering system allows continuous reading and recording of many measurands, e.g. power quality and load curve, as well as early-stage failure detection, monitoring of the meter lid opening alarm (detection of unlicensed actions), detection of the opposite energy flow and many other appropriate signals. The advantage of these systems, besides the remote reading, is the possibility to control and set-up the parameters of the system without sending a human to the location. All mentioned induces the long-term reduction in financial expenses for the distribution system operator.
The most common communication systems for information and control signals transmission are GSM (Global System Mobile) and PLC (Power Line Carrier). PLC is prevailing lately due to its smaller cost and independence of the GSM operator. The PLC technology is mostly used to the closest distribution transformer station, from where information is carried to the rest of the system by optic cables.
The primary constraint on application of described systems is cost reduction and reaching reasonable cost effectiveness.

G. M. Rocha, R. J. Daroda
THE BRAZILIAN EXPERIENCE WITH ETHANOL FUEL

The consumption of fossil fuels derived from petroleum presents a significant impact on environmental quality. Air pollution in big cities is, probably, the most visible impact resultant of petroleum derivatives combustion and credited almost all to the transport sector. This sector relies almost exclusively on liquid hydrocarbons leading to an emission of massive amounts of CO₂ with the associated greenhouse effect. Ethanol from sugarcane can contribute positively in the improvement of the environment with the reduction of the use of fossil fuels and of CO₂ emissions. The goal of this paper is to present the Brazilian experience with renewable energy, the contributions of Inmetro and the recent results of the Brazilian Ethanol Program, nominated PROALCOHOL, internationally known as the most successful alternative fuel program.