User's Guide

1. Plug the orange cord into a wall outlet (120V, 60Hz) to power the cart and its systems

2. Turn on the reference generator to power the grid network

3. Turn on one mechanical generator and synchronize it to the grid

4. Turn on the other mechanical generator and synchronize it to the grid; now, all three generators are feeding into the grid simultaneously

5. The grid is up and running--play! Students can learn about the behavior of the power grid in multiple ways:

a) Change transmission line lengths by changing the switches on the transmission line PCBs

b) Plug in loads on the grid using the variable resistive, inductive, and capacitive loads or the LED load

c) Simulate outages by cutting power from a generator, cutting power to a transmission line or load, or shorting a line

6. While changing various components along the grid, monitor a collection of nodes and use the MATLAB interface to observe voltage and current waveforms and monitor power factor and phase angle

7. To de-energize the grid, turn off the 24V DC power supply to turn off the mechanical generators, then turn off the reference generator

8. Unplug the orange cord and safely wrap the cord back onto the cart