A new tool for substation design

The merit of a new tool for the design of substations is illustrated through a specific case design. This new tool, called SIDE, for Substation Intelligent Design Environment, models design rules, equipment databases and substation specifications using an object-oriented methodology. SIDE generates a number of alternative substation designs each of which meets the given specifications. It does this by selecting and assembling, in a rational order, equipment extracted from its databases. Thus, for each alternative design, SIDE creates the single-line diagram and the general electric specifications. This process is guided by two techniques: a sequential filtering process that progressively narrows down the list of possible equipment; and a multi-criteria analysis where the choice of equipment and overall station design is determined following a set of user-specified preferences. SIDE illustrates the power of object-oriented programming in the development of tools for the design of systems involving the selection and assembly of many complex components according to several possibly conflicting design criteria.