Energy Affecting the Real World – Berkeley Engineering

The Gridware founder poses in an aerial lift next to a utility pole being monitored by Gridscope (left to right): Hall Chen, CTO. Abdurrahman bin Omar, COO. CEO Tim Barratt. (Photo courtesy of Gridware)

Gridware, founded by Berkeley Engineering alumni, uses sensors to tackle wildfire threat

Tim Barat (BS’19, MS’20 EECS) will never forget seeing the devastation caused by wildfires in his hometown of Victoria, Australia. On February 7, 2009 (now known as Black He’s Saturday), 400 wildfires raged over more than 1,700 square miles, killing 173 people and destroying nearly 2,000 homes. it was done. Many fires were caused by collapsed power lines, Kilmore He East His King Lake fire alone killed 120 people.

At the time, Barratt had dropped out of high school and was working as a wireman climbing utility poles. When power outages were reported, the crew had to find faulty lines, sometimes requiring him to hike 11 hours to the backcountry. Often they found fully energized lines sparking in the ground, near dangerously dry vegetation.

Barat was puzzled by the lack of a system that accurately detects power line faults. “We have sensors on our wrists, sensors in our pockets, and all these amazing ways of sensing the world,” he says. “Yet, when power lines fail or fall to the ground, power companies often don’t know it happened.”

Barat’s desire to mitigate the threat of wildfires eventually led him to UC Berkeley, where he co-founded Gridware with classmates Hall Chen (BS’19 EECS) and Abdulrahman Bin Omar (MS’20 ChemE) . Today, Gridware’s product, his Gridscope, monitors distinct harmonics from utility poles to assess the integrity of electrical grids and potential hazard risks from transmission lines.

From Berkeley Engineering to Startup Fastlane

Even after Barratt moved to the US in 2013, the Black Saturday experience stuck with him. He enrolled in his community college, where he began studying electrical engineering, eventually transferring to Berkeley. During his research, however, he remained focused on developing the idea of ​​using sensors to detect faults in power lines to prevent wildfires.

“By the time of the campfire [2018], I was starting to figure out how to finally solve this by combining my previous experience in this area with the toolkit I learned from Berkeley.” “I remembered the words you said on the way [A. Richard] Newton Lecture Series: The best solutions come from people solving problems they’ve experienced themselves. ”

To advance his thinking, Barat decided to continue as a master’s student at Berkeley. As part of his research, he began talking to utility company executives and regulators from the California Public Utilities Commission to understand their incentive structures, pain points, and technology gaps.

Barat says: “Seven of the top 20 wildfires in California’s history have been ignited by power lines in this way, and we still don’t have a reliable solution to detect them.”

To move forward, Barat needed funding and guidance on how to start a business. As a graduate student, he enrolled in the Technology Entrepreneurship Course at the Berkeley Starja Entrepreneurship & Technology Center where he studied product development and worked in the energy industry. He then worked with CITRIS Foundry to formally incorporate his Gridware in 2020, appointing Barat as his CEO, Chen as Chief Technology Officer and Bin Omar as Chief Operating Officer.

According to Bin Omar, CITRIS Foundry has helped them make the leap to the startup phase. “Their support, resources, and guidance helped us build the company and secure a $150,000 grant for him from the California Energy Commission,” Bin Omar said. says. “This gave us the credibility to secure our first funding round.”

Gridware Founders (left to right) — Tim Barat, CEO. Hall Chen, CTO; COO Abdulrahman Bin Omar — he is shown holding Gridscope, a device for real-time monitoring of power lines. (Photo courtesy of Gridware)

After successfully applying to Y Combinator, Gridware raised $5.3 million in three weeks. They can now focus on developing technology and testing prototypes. Barat says:

New Ways to Mitigate Wildfires

With newly acquired know-how and an influx of financial support, the Gridware team has been able to develop several key technologies, including how to use solar energy to power the device and how to ensure it is compact and easy to install. We were able to solve design and engineering challenges. Their technology is off-the-shelf.

The resulting product, called Gridscope, attaches to utility poles and uses highly sensitive sensors such as vibrometers and microphones to detect anomalies. Observe the grid environment, stress levels, and equipment response by making continuous measurements at a rate of 6,000 times per second. Deviations from expected behavior could indicate problems such as a branch falling on the line, a high wind blowing the line, or a car hitting a post.

“Our technology feels the vibrations of the track and listens for the very interesting and unique acoustic and vibration signals that are produced when these events occur,” said Barat. “For example, if vegetation hits the line, the line will vibrate in its own way. And those vibrations will travel down through the poles and we will detect it.”

Gridscope uses analog and digital signal processing and an advanced analytics engine to locally process sensor data and determine actions to take, such as whether to report activity to the utility manager.

According to Chen, Gridscope’s ability to provide real-time observations and analytics is key to strengthening the grid. “This level of grid intelligence on the ground is unprecedented and will help inform broader efforts to increase grid resilience and modernization,” he said.

Barat credits co-founder Prabal Dutta, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, with being an exceptional mentor and helping the team optimize the technology.

For Dutta, it’s rewarding to see these Berkeley engineers use university resources to start tackling real-world problems. “It’s great to see our students transform into leaders with the help of education and networking at Berkeley,” he says.

CITRIS Foundry support has also proven important in product development. Thomas Azwell, who heads Berkeley Engineering’s Disaster Lab, and mentor David Warner helped Barat secure a test site on his 170-acre Richmond Field Station property at UC Berkeley.

Gridscope uses sensors to monitor harmonics from utility poles to assess grid integrity. (Photo courtesy of Gridware)

Gridware now expects to have 100,000 units in production by the end of 2023. Barat said most West Coast utilities with wildfire mitigation plans are on Gridscope’s wait list or have contracts with the company. And their efforts have not gone unnoticed. Gridscope said he was recognized by Time magazine as one of the best inventions of 2022, and Barat, Chen and Bin Omar were recently featured on Forbes’ annual list of his Top 30 Entrepreneurs Under 30. was given.

For Barat, bringing his first vision to life was a challenge and a reminder that everyone at Berkeley has the potential to make an impact. Even though he dropped out of high school. “I walked into EECS with a lot of self-doubt and a major case of impostor syndrome,” he said. “But I think it’s incredibly encouraging to be able to rewind and get a glimpse of where we are now and what we’ve built.”