A Unified Optimization Design Framework for Human and Energy Storage System Grounded in Naturalistic User Behavior and Interaction

This award supports research that seeks to advance both fundamental and practical design methods and principles in human-system interactive design. The revolution in multi-source energy generation has driven rapid development of energy storage systems (ESSs) across industries from automotive to power plants, designed to accommodate various applications and use cases. Yet, ESSs are not standalone systems in real-world scenarios; they are dynamically managed by users who can make spontaneous decisions. The overarching research goal of this project is to create a human-driven synergistic framework between human and ESS to optimize system-level performance and increase the affordability of system operational costs. It seeks to bridge the gap between in-situ user behaviors and the engineering system design process and further promote the prevalence of ESS-powered applications to the general public, which can be transferred and adapted to different ESSs affected by active, dynamic user behaviors. This research looks to contribute to the design science of human-ESS interaction by unifying multiple domains, including behavioral and computational science, firmly grounded in theoretical foundations. Specifically, the research aims to: 1) Characterize dynamic human behaviors based on goals and intents using data collected from the longitudinal naturalistic study. 2) Develop new theoretical models to assess ESS performance influenced by dynamic human behaviors. 3) Create a novel unified optimization design framework to devise human-ESS interaction strategies to optimize overall system performance. 4) Build a new hybrid testing platform to validate and evaluate the design framework. Ultimately, the new design methods and principles look to be introduced as a new modeling paradigm that comprehensively accounts for human-induced dynamics in broader human-system applications, which will lead to unprecedented performance optimization of the overall system design to benefit all Americans. The project will also support education and outreach efforts to provide a research platform and opportunities in human-system design for all citizens. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.