Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 5, 2026

Experimental Investigation of the Hierarchical Control in DC Microgrids Using a Real-time Simulator
Published on: February 14, 2025
Network-Aware Control Barrier Functions for Resilient Microgrids Under Stealthy Drift Attacks
Mordecai Opoku Ohemeng1, Frederick T Sheldon1
1Department of Computer Science, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83843, USA.
Abstract:
Inverter-dominated microgrids are highly vulnerable to stealthy cyber-physical drift attacks, low-amplitude, slowly varying perturbations that bypass conventional statistical filters to induce voltage degradation and delayed collapse. This paper introduces a resilient, delay-aware supervisory control architecture that acts as an online safety shield at the actuator interface. By jointly modeling nonlinear power-flow interactions and directional communication topologies, we construct physics-informed Control Barrier Functions (CBFs), embedding structural electrical invariants derived from the nodal admittance matrix Ybus. The supervisor directly incorporates heterogeneous, time-varying network delays into its safety constraints and utilizes a threat-adaptive modulation loop driven by spatio-temporal residuals to dynamically scale intervention aggressiveness. Using a Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional, we prove that the closed-loop tracking error is Input-to-State Stable (ISS) under bounded drift and worst-case latencies. High-fidelity simulations on an IEEE 14-bus test feeder demonstrate that the supervisor consistently enforces non-negative safety margins and reduces time-integrated voltage violations. Under coordinated sub-threshold attacks designed to exploit network jitter, the architecture bounds trajectories to physically consistent manifolds and prevents voltage collapse, establishing a scalable cross-layer safety framework for resilient distribution systems.
Related Concept Videos
Line Protection with Impedance Relays
Under normal conditions, low load currents keep the measured...
Radial System Protection
In a radial system with a fault downstream of the third breaker, ideally, only the third breaker will open, isolating the fault and interrupting the load connected beyond it. The second breaker has a longer delay setting,...
Zones of Protection
Protective zones are defined by closed dashed lines, containing one or more components. A key characteristic of these zones is the strategic placement of...
Control of Power Flow
Network Function of a Circuit
Load-frequency control