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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 325 records · Page 18
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Distributed Energy Resource Visual Emulator: Phase 1

To help federal energy managers assess, monitor, and manage cybersecurity while achieving decarbonization, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Distributed Energy Resource Cybersecurity Framework (DER-CF) offers a comprehensive, web-based assessment tool focusing on cyber governance or policies, technical management, and physical security. The DER-CF currently presents users with a series of pertinent cybersecurity questions, which are used to generate a site-specific report and recommendations. This paper outlines a technical approach to integrate the DER-CF with another key asset—NREL's Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) Cyber Range—to visualize cybersecurity resilience and compliance and to enhance the usability and accessibility of the DER-CF. The result is a new tool called the Distributed Energy Resource Visual Emulator (DER-VE). Its development will include regular conversations with stakeholders to assess the effectiveness of these efforts, refine the visualization capability, and ensure its value to our partners. Phase 0 of the integration project was concluded in 2021. Phase 1, completed in 2022, has two components: The first is developing a working visualization of system compliance using the DER-CF, and the second is planning the design of a server application that takes input data from the DER-CF and creates a personal emulated environment of the user's system or a selected reference architect. Major components that were addressed in this phase are the DER-CF output, compliance visualization, data model, and compliance server design.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Designing a decentralized fault-tolerant software framework for smart grids and its applications

The vision of the ‘Smart Grid’ anticipates a distributed real-time embedded system that implements various monitoring and control functions. As the reliability of the power grid is critical to modern society, the software supporting the grid must support fault tolerance and resilience of the resulting cyber-physical system. This paper describes the fault-tolerance features of a software framework called Resilient Information Architecture Platform for Smart Grid (RIAPS). The framework supports various mechanisms for fault detection and mitigation and works in concert with the applications that implement the grid-specific functions. The paper discusses the design philosophy for and the implementation of the fault tolerance features and presents an application example to show how it can be used to build highly resilient systems.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Attack detection and localization with adaptive thresholding

According to some embodiments, a system, method, and non-transitory computer readable medium are provided comprising a plurality of real-time monitoring nodes to receive streams of monitoring node signal values over time that represent a current operation of the cyber physical system; and a threat detection computer platform, coupled to the plurality of real-time monitoring nodes, to: receive the monitoring node signal values; compute an anomaly score; compare the anomaly score with an adaptive threshold; and detect that one of a particular monitoring node and a system is outside a decision boundary based on the comparison, and classify that particular monitoring node or system as anomalous. Numerous other aspects are provided.

Abbaszadeh, Masoud↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Verification Framework for Runtime Assurance of Autonomous UAS

Runtime Assurance (RTA) is a design-time architecture for safety-critical systems where an internal monitor acts upon detecting a violation of a property. The simplex architecture is an instance of RTA, where the action taken is to hand control of the overall system to a trusted controller when an untrusted one violates a safety property. Simplex RTA is emerging as a method for allowing AI/ML and other unverified software to be integrated into safety-critical applications like aircraft. To this end, the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and NASA have each published guidelines on the use of RTA in such systems. In the simplex RTA framework, a system has an advanced controller (AC) and a reversionary controller (RC). The system is allowed to operate with the AC until a runtime monitor detects that some property has been violated and then the RC takes over. Assuming that the sample rate of the monitor will detect improper functioning with enough time for the RC to correct the impending problem, and that the RC is trusted, the system will operate as intended. This use of the simplex RTA framework can allow for the integration of untrusted, but possibly more performant, controllers in a safe way. This paper presents a formalization of a simplex RTA framework in the Prototype Verification System (PVS) theorem prover using an embedding of differential dynamic logic (DDL) called Plaidypvs. A novel feature of this framework is that it can be instantiated at different levels of abstraction. This feature allows for the formal verification of a system with an untrusted black box component, such as an AI/ML controller. This paper does not address the many difficulties in deploying RTA in an industrial-level system. Instead, the focus is on the formal verification of the simplex RTA framework in the language of hybrid programs. Hybrid programs are programs that include both discrete and continuous dynamics and can be used to model complex cyber-physical systems. Plaidypvs is a tool that enables formalization of hybrid programs in the PVS theorem prover. Plaidypvs enables the verification of the general simplex RTA framework and then, by specializing some components of the hybrid program, verifying instances of the framework while treating the untrusted component as a black box. A selection of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) operations are shown as instances of the general RTA framework in PVS. This offers the benefit of design time verification of relevant safety properties to the system, and it also gives requirements on the sample rate of sensors that determine the time interval in which the ‘switch’ property of the RTA framework is checked.

PVS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Reconfigurable Network Slicing Orchestration in Network Function Virtualization Compatible Operational Technology Environment

The ongoing transition to Industry 4.0, which is characterized by increased inter-connectivity of cyber-physical systems, requires having time-sensitive, high throughput, and secure transfer of critical data in industrial sites. In this context, network slicing emerges as a critical tool to ensure timely data delivery by provisioning the network resources to cater to specific applications’ requirements and mitigating potential cyber attacks. To address these challenges, this paper aims to tackle two key questions essential for the successful implementation of network slicing in industrial environments. First, it investigates architectural considerations for developing a network infrastructure capable of supporting network slicing functionalities effectively. The proposed approach significantly improves deployment efficiency over traditional manual configurations. Second, it delves into the automated orchestration process, elucidating the steps and components involved in transitioning from a static network management approach to dynamically leverage network function virtualization schemes for creating network slices in ad-hoc manner. The system demonstrates high throughput suitable for production-level solutions and maintains exceptionally low latency, making it ideal for ultra-reliable low-latency communications. Even with increased network demands, the system remains stable, with effective Quality of Service (QoS) management, ensuring reliable performance under varying conditions. The proposed architecture outlines the necessary components, services, and communication protocols required for a production-level orchestrator for network segmentation in SCADA environments.

Rodiles Delgado, Brian G.↗
DOE OSTI2022

ADROC: An Emulation Experimentation Platform for Advancing Resilience of Control Systems

Cyberattacks against industrial control systems have increased over the last decade, making it more critical than ever for system owners to have the tools necessary to understand the cyber resilience of their systems. However, existing tools are often qualitative, subject matter expertise-driven, or highly generic, making thorough, data-driven cyber resilience analysis challenging. The ADROC project proposed to develop a platform to enable efficient, repeatable, data-driven cyber resilience analysis for cyber-physical systems. The approach consists of two phases of modeling: computationally efficient math modeling and high-fidelity emulations. The first phase allows for scenarios of low concern to be quickly filtered out, conserving resources available for analysis. The second phase supports more detailed scenario analysis, which is more predictive of real-world systems. Data extracted from experiments is used to calculate cyber resilience metrics. ADROC then ranks scenarios based on these metrics, enabling prioritization of system resources to improve cyber resilience.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2024

Innovative Natural Gas Technologies For Efficiency Gain In Reliable And Affordable Thermochemical Electricity Generation (INTEGRATE)

Hyper is a cutting-edge system that pairs computational models that simulate the response of different systems with physical components such as sensors and actuators to transfer said calculated response to the HyPer facility. Computational models must operate in real-time in order to resolve the system response when coupled to physical hardware. Real-time is defined by the minimal HyPer system response time of Δt = 0.080 s. The integration of these models serves as a foundation for performance characterization based on real-world SOFC hardware and paves the way for comprehensive fuel flexibility studies. This report underscores the innovative approach to cyber-physical system deployment at NETL’s HyPer Facility, highlighting the critical role of computational models in enhancing the performance and adaptability of energy technologies.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2022

WPTO Comprehensive References [Poster]

Protecting hydroelectric plants from incidents that adversely impact their cyber-physical systems presents unique challenges due to the plants’ widely dispersed geographic locations and varied configurations as well as the relative nascent nature of the cyberattacks targeting these facilities. To help hydroelectric plants better respond to and mitigate cybersecurity incidents, this Department of Energy Water Power Technologies Office Cyber Comprehensive Reference list is to be used at a hydroelectric plant to quickly go to appropriate sources during the response and recovery of a cyber incident. In addition to this product, there are three other products meant to be distributed to a hydroelectric plant to assist in their cyber incident response and recovery. The first, a report on the processes of building a R&R flip book based on a large set of existing guidance. The second, a handy flip book meant to be distributed to hydroelectric plants to assist them during a cybersecurity incident occurring on a hydroelectic plant. And the third is a correlated alignment of the steps an hydroelectric plant operator would take for both a cyber incident as well as an emergency response process if the event rises to a cyber incident affecting the safe and reliable operations of a hydroelectric plant.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Hands-On, Heads-Up: Blending Cyber T&E with Data Science-Driven Training in Jupyter Notebooks

In an era of increasingly sophisticated threats to critical infrastructure, cybersecurity professionals must be more than just aware; they must be immersed, agile, and equipped to operate in environments where failure is not an option. Nowhere is this truer than in the nuclear sector, where cyber-physical systems, regulatory scrutiny, and insider threat potential demand a new generation of hands-on, technically fluent defenders. This paper presents a unified training approach that integrates Cybersecurity Test and Evaluation (T&E) with data science techniques using Jupyter Notebooks as the interactive lab environment. The program centers on a modular, scenario-driven curriculum designed to build not just knowledge but practical capability in the assessment and defense of radiation detection systems, firmware interfaces, and operational security postures.

98 - NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL↗
DOE OSTI2022

Emulation Modeling for Development of Cyber-Defense Capabilities for Satellite Systems

The objective of this project was to develop a novel capability to generate synthetic data sets for the purpose of training Machine Learning (ML) algorithms for the detection of malicious activities on satellite systems. The approach experimented with was to a) generate sparse data sets using emulation modeling and b) enlarge the sparse data using Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs). We based our emulation modeling on the Open Source NASA Operational Simulator for Small Satellites (NOS3) developed by the Katherine Johnson Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) program in West Virginia. Significant new capabilities on NOS3 had to be developed for our data set generation needs. To expand these data sets for the purpose of training ML, we experimented with a) Extreme Learning Machines (ELMs) and b) Wasserstein-GANs (WGAN-GP).

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗
DOE OSTI2024

Large-Scale Hydrogen Storage Cyber Risk Assessment

Hydrogen storage systems may become more widely deployed throughout the country, and so it is possible that individual and interconnected systems will be exposed to cyber-attacks. These events can cause physical and financial harm to employees, people in the vicinity of the facility, and the company that owns the facility. The two main ways bad actors may access information or control from a hydrogen storage facility are through information technology and operations technology devices, the former of which refers to data and information from networked devices and the latter of which refers to onsite controls for the physical system. Both types of entryways into the system should be considered when companies conduct cyber risk assessments and when regulators develop or revise relevant codes and standards. This report analyzes cybersecurity risks associated with a generic hydrogen storage system by outlining the system's purpose and the importance of its cybersecurity. The hydrogen storage system architecture and communication protocols are provided to understand potential cyber vulnerabilities. Later, an event tree analysis is performed on hydrogen operation to identify system weaknesses by outlining potential attack scenarios. This report also identifies critical cyber assets related to different hydrogen operations followed by an examination of potential threats, and the impact of cyber assets on those operational assets.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2024

Guest Editorial Special Section on Advanced Medium-Voltage Power Electronics for Grid Interactive Applications

Medium-voltage power electronics (MVPE) plays essential roles in power grid modernization and links the MV distribution grid with low-voltage consumers and prosumers. Various MVPE devices, such as solid-state transformers or circuit breakers, inverter-based resources, power flow controllers, etc., bring the benefits of voltage conversion and power regulation in small footprint, power quality and efficiency improvements, and enhancements of grid controllability, flexibility, stability, and resilience. The MVPE also makes it possible for sustainable energy systems, such as solar/wind farms and energy storage generating facilities, to directly access to MV grids without multistage conversions. With their intrinsic intelligence and communications, MVPE enables many new smart grid functions and applications, e.g., dc interconnections and electric vehicle charging, which were not envisioned by traditional power grids otherwise. In addition, the integration of physical power processing units with cyber components forms a cyber-physical system, which is essential for long-term sustainability, development, and environmental preservation. Nonetheless, technical challenges on MVPE device reliability, scalable and efficient converter topologies, control stability, large-scale modeling and simulation, to name a few, need to be addressed and advanced to the next level. In conclusion, this Special Section on Advanced MV Power Electronics for Grid Interactive Applications in IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics (TPEL) provides an insight on some of the recent advances in MVPE and emerging challenges and potential solutions.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
NASA NTRS2018

Serious Gaming for Building a Basis of Certification via Trust and Trustworthiness of Autonomous Systems

Autonomous systems governed by a variety of adaptive and nondeterministic algorithms are being planned for inclusion into safety-critical environments, such as unmanned aircraft and space systems in both civilian and military applications. However, until autonomous systems are proven and perceived to be capable and resilient in the face of unanticipated conditions, humans will be reluctant or unable to delegate authority, remaining in control aided by machine-based information and decision support. Proving capability, or trustworthiness, is a necessary component of certification. Perceived capability is a component of trust. Trustworthiness is an attribute of a cyber-physical system that requires context-driven metrics to prove and certify. Trust is an attribute of the agents participating in the system and is gained over time and multiple interactions through trustworthy behavior and transparency. Historically, artificial intelligence and machine learning systems provide answers without explanation - without a rationale or insight into the machine “thinking”. In order to function as trusted teammates, machines must be able to explain their decisions and actions. This transparency is a product of both content and communication. NASA’s Autonomy Teaming & TRAjectories for Complex Trusted Operational Reliability (ATTRACTOR) project seeks to build a basis for certification of autonomous systems via establishing metrics for trustworthiness and trust in multi-agent team interactions, using AI (Artificial Intelligence) explainability and persistent modeling and simulation, in the context of mission planning and execution, with analyzable trajectories. Inspired by Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG) and Serious Gaming, the proposed ATTRACTOR modeling and simulation environment is similar to online gaming environments in which player (aka agent) participants interact with each other, affect their environment, and expect the simulation to persist and change regardless of any individual agent’s active participation. This persistent simulation environment will accommodate individual agents, groups of self-organizing agents, and large-scale infrastructure behavior. The effects of the emerging adaptation and coevolution can be observed and measured to building a basis of measurable trustworthiness and trust, toward certification of safety-critical autonomous systems.

Allen, B. Danette↗
DOE OSTI2026

Energy Systems Integration Facility Stewardship Summary: Fiscal Year 2025

A summary of NLR's stewardship of the nationally unique Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) highlighting performance metrics, capability upgrades, and examples of R&D impact. 2025 brought a national focus on energy and ESIF is meeting the moment. All eyes are on data centers and domestic manufacturing and bringing the benefits of artificial intelligence to power system planning and operations. In step with national priorities, ESIF is building out capabilities that advance secure, reliable, and affordable power. ESIF hosted 190 multidisciplinary research projects, 855 high-performance computer users, and collaborated with 81 partners from industry, academia, research, and federal agencies. These research projects resulted in an AI method for detecting high-impedance faults with 90% accuracy, a grid controls demonstration in Connecticut, power quality validation of CorePower's flagship inductor, and a cybersecurity assessment of potential rogue capabilities in digitally connected energy devices. Facility infrastructure improvements enhanced the thermal research network, the SCADA system, the cyber range, power hardware-in-the-loop testing, and more. With support from the U.S Department of Energy (DOE), the ESIF laboratories continue to deliver leading solutions for secure, reliable, and affordable power.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Optimal PMU Restoration for Power System Observability Recovery After Massive Attacks

Cyber-physically resilient power system operation requires rapid recovery of situational awareness after disastrous scenarios such as massive cyber attacks. In this article, the concept of optimal sequential restoration of Phasor Measurement Units is introduced, aiming at rapid recovery of power system observability in post-attack scenarios. Additionally, the observability recovery problem is formulated as a Mixed Integer Linear Programming problem to maximize the cumulative observability level gained over time during the restoration process. Three alternative objective functions-maximizing the number of observable buses, the number of observable branches, and the total amount of observable power flow-are considered. The effectiveness of the proposed optimal strategy is verified by comparing it with heuristic approaches on the IEEE 57-bus system.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2024

Large-Scale Hydrogen Storage Cyber Risk Assessment

Hydrogen storage systems are becoming more widely deployed throughout the country, and as their presence continues to grow, it is possible that individual and interconnected systems will be exposed to cyber-attacks. These events can cause physical and financial harm to employees, people in the vicinity, and to the company that owns the facility. The two main mechanisms malicious actors may access information or control from a hydrogen storage facility are through information technology and operations technology devices, the former of which refers to data and information from networked devices and the latter of which refers to onsite controls for the physical system. Both types of entryways into the system should be considered when facility managers conduct cyber risk assessments and when regulators develop or revise relevant codes and standards. This report analyzes cybersecurity risks applicable to a wide variety of hydrogen storage systems by outlining the system's purpose and the importance of its cybersecurity. The hydrogen storage system architecture and communication protocols are provided to understand potential cyber vulnerabilities. Later, an event tree analysis is performed on hydrogen operation to identify system weaknesses by outlining potential attack scenarios. This report also identifies critical cyber assets related to different hydrogen operations followed by an examination of potential threats, and the impact of cyber assets on those operational assets.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2022

WPTO Navigator

Protecting hydroelectric plants from incidents that adversely impact their cyber-physical systems presents unique challenges due to the plants’ widely dispersed geographic locations and varied configurations as well as the relative nascent nature of the cyberattacks targeting these facilities. To help hydroelectric plants better respond to and mitigate cybersecurity incidents, this Department of Energy Water Power Technologies Office Navigator aligns the processes within the National Institute of Standards 800-61r2 Computer Security Incident Handling Guide with the emergency actions within the FEMA 64 Emergency Action Plan Framework. This work is to be used at a hydroelectric plant to quickly understand how the plant responds to a cyber incident in relationship to the actions involved in an emergency action plan involving a hydroelectric plant. In addition to this product, there are three other products meant to be distributed to a hydroelectric plant to assist in their cyber incident response and recovery. The first, a report on the processes of building a R&R flip book based on a large set of existing guidance. The second, a handy flip book meant to be distributed to hydroelectric plants to assist them during a cybersecurity incident occurring on a hydroelectic plant. And the third is a comprehensive set of resources to assist an operator in locating appropriate guidance during the recovery process.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Reinforcement Learning of Structured Stabilizing Control for Linear Systems With Unknown State Matrix

This paper delves into designing feedback control gains for a continuous-time linear quadratic regulator (LQR) problem that is constrained to certain predefined structure with unknown state matrix. We bring forth the ideas from reinforcement learning (RL) in conjunction with sufficient stability and performance guarantees in order to design these structured gains using the trajectory measurements of states and controls. Here we first formulate a model-based framework using dynamic programming (DP) to embed the structural constraint to the LQR gain computation in the continuous-time setting, and then subsequently, formulate a policy iteration RL algorithm that can alleviate the requirement of known state matrix in conjunction with maintaining the feedback gain structure. The design enables a distributed learning control design which is necessary for many large-scale cyber-physical systems. Theoretical guarantees are provided for stability and convergence of the structured reinforcement learning (SRL) algorithm. We validate our theoretical results with numerical simulations on a multi-agent networked linear time-invariant (LTI) dynamic system.

42 ENGINEERING↗