aau/MüllerUsing non-intrusive load monitoring (NILM), it is possible to analyse which devices in a household are currently consuming electricity without having to attach separate measuring instruments to all of the consumers. Emir Sinanović, a university assistant in the Smart Grids working group at the Department of Networked and Embedded Systems, hopes to combine this analysis with a large-language model that works rather like ChatGPT.
“A kettle uses electricity differently over time than a refrigerator. Non-intrusive load monitoring uses a variety of parameters to calculate which device is currently in use,” Emir Sinanović explains. He wants to combine this analysis with a large-language model that will provide information on existing usage and predictions of future trends. This approach is useful for a number of applications: “Many users are reluctant to interpret data themselves and would benefit from more readily understandable information. This could help support older people living alone, for example, by alerting relatives to changes in their daily electricity consumption that could indicate that something has happened to them.”
Large language models need a lot of data to learn. Real data is available, for example, in the form of data pools from Austria and Italy. In addition, researchers in the Smart Grids working group have been working on hardware and algorithms for mini-computers that can be attached directly to a household’s power grid to retrieve and deliver data quickly and at a high frequency. Emir Sinanović, who took up his position in December, can now build on this work.
For Emir Sinanović, it stands to reason that data protection is highly relevant, especially in this sensitive area. “My work will also focus on how to ensure that private data remains secure,” he says. In addition to private households, the technology could also prove highly relevant for companies, which would have more information about their energy consumption in a ready-to-use format and could thus increase their energy efficiency.
Smart grids have been a topic of interest to Emir Sinanović for quite some time. While studying for his Bachelor’s degree in Information and Communications Engineering, he developed software for web applications at Lakeside Park. He then went on to complete his Master’s degree in Information and Communications Engineering in 2023. His thesis supervisor, Wilfried Elmenreich, is now also the supervisor of his doctoral project. Emir Sinanović gained his first insights into technology as a student of computer science at the commercial academy in Klagenfurt: An enthusiastic computer gamer, he not only wanted to use IT, but also wanted to develop it himself. “Programming alone wasn’t enough for me either. That’s why I was glad to have come across the Bachelor’s programme in Information and Communications Engineering, which combines software and hardware,” he tells us. He adds, ‘’Being able to delve deeper into the subject as part of a doctoral thesis is a real pleasure. I am learning a lot in the process – and I am sure it will benefit me greatly in the future.‘’
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A few words with … Emir Sinanović
Do your parents understand what you are working on?
In principle, yes, but if I went into detail, anyone who is not an expert in the field would probably have a hard time understanding the technical terms or contexts.
What is the first thing you do in the office each morning?
Switch on my laptop and then get a cup of coffee and a glass of water.
Who do you regard as the greatest scientist in history, and why?
Every scientist contributes to expanding human knowledge with their work, and that is an amazing thing.
What makes you furious?
Injustice.
And what calms you down?
Standing on top of a mountain and enjoying the peace and the view.
Do you take proper holidays? Without thinking about your work?
Yes, that comes very easily for me.
What are you afraid of?
Not being able to do everything I still wanted to do before it is time to leave this world.
What are you looking forward to?
Relating to the previous question, precisely those things that I still plan to do. But there are too many to list here.
Der Beitrag Taking a closer look at electricity consumption with the help of artificial intelligence erschien zuerst auf University of Klagenfurt.