Smart Outlets End Nuisance Trips

Smart Outlets End Nuisance Trips
Jun-19-18
A new smart outlet invention from MIT relies on AI to identify electrical spikes and prevent unneeded circuit interruptions.

Conventional wall outlets are equipped with arc-fault detectors that will trip the circuit if a dangerous electrical spike occurs. However, those detectors can cause ‘nuisance trips,’ and shut off the power even when the spike is harmless.

To prevent these interruptions, the team from MIT developed a ‘smart outlet’ equipped with a Raspberry Pi microcomputer that runs a machine learning algorithm, processing the electrical current data in real time. By comparing the current signal to ones used to train the system, the smart outlet can determine if the electrical spike is a hazard, as well as distinguish individual appliances—which could be useful in connected, IoT homes.

Image credit: MIT

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[SLASHGEAR.COM]
[NEWS.MIT.EDU]
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