Patents by Inventor Derl W. Rhoades

Derl W. Rhoades has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 10345484
    Abstract: Disclosed are various embodiments for confirming a tornado event has contacted a ground surface and for generating a path prediction. Upon receipt of power outage alarms from metering devices, the Advance Metering Infrastructure (AMI) application can generate cluster areas based on the location of the metering devices. The AMI application can compare a cluster area to a tornado pattern to determine if the cluster area has experienced a tornado event. The AMI application can determine a speed and a direction of the tornado event based on the location and a time stamp of a power outage associated with the metering devices in the cluster areas.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 9, 2019
    Assignee: SOUTHERN COMPANY SERVICES, INC.
    Inventors: Brandon Lundy, Derl W. Rhoades
  • Patent number: 10180466
    Abstract: An exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a method for determining root causes of issues in an electrical grid. The method includes receiving local data from each of a plurality of meters. The local data may be indicative of voltage levels measured by the plurality of meters. The method also includes identifying abnormalities in the received local data. An abnormality is indicated by local data indicative of a voltage level that is outside of a predetermined range of acceptable levels. The method further includes associating each of the identified abnormalities with a respective meter and a geographic location of the respective meter and analyzing each of the identified abnormalities according to a predetermined set of evaluation factors to determine a root cause.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2019
    Assignee: Southern Company
    Inventors: Robert D. King, Joshua Ashcraft, Jamie R. Meaders, Tommy Jamison, Jr., Ravikanth C. Paruchuri, Wesley M. Granade, Mitch A. Cason, Derl W. Rhoades, Brandon Lundy
  • Publication number: 20180210038
    Abstract: An exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a method for determining root causes of issues in an electrical grid. The method includes receiving local data from each of a plurality of meters. The local data may be indicative of voltage levels measured by the plurality of meters. The method also includes identifying abnormalities in the received local data. An abnormality is indicated by local data indicative of a voltage level that is outside of a predetermined range of acceptable levels. The method further includes associating each of the identified abnormalities with a respective meter and a geographic location of the respective meter and analyzing each of the identified abnormalities according to a predetermined set of evaluation factors to determine a root cause.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 24, 2017
    Publication date: July 26, 2018
    Inventors: Robert D. King, Joshua Ashcraft, Jamie R. Meaders, Tommy Jamison, Jr., Ravikanth C. Paruchuri, Wesley M. Granade, Mitch A. Cason, Derl W. Rhoades, Brandon Lundy
  • Publication number: 20170059744
    Abstract: Disclosed are various embodiments for confirming a tornado event has contacted the ground surface and generating a path prediction. Upon receipt of power outage alarms from metering devices, the Advance Metering Infrastructure (AMI) application can generate cluster areas based on the location of the metering devices. The AMI application can compare cluster area to a tornado pattern to determine if the cluster area has experienced a tornado. AMI application can determine a speed and a direction of the tornado event based on the location and a time stamp associated with the metering devices in the cluster areas.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 1, 2015
    Publication date: March 2, 2017
    Applicant: SOUTHERN COMPANY SERVICES, INC.
    Inventors: Brandon Lundy, Derl W. Rhoades