# Design a User-Respecting Smart-Grid Controller Design a controller for an electrical grid connected to smart devices such as electric vehicles, refrigerators, air conditioners, and hospital equipment. When load is too high, the system should request or coordinate reductions while respecting that device owners retain final authority and devices often disconnect and reconnect. ### Constraints & Assumptions - Safety-critical loads cannot be treated like deferrable household loads. - A command may be delayed, rejected, or never acknowledged. - The system must not infer consent merely because a device is online. ### Clarifying Questions to Ask - What grid signal triggers intervention, and how quickly must load change? - Which device capabilities and owner preferences are known? - What guarantees apply to hospital or other critical equipment? ```hint Optimize under uncertainty Treat each device response as uncertain and re-plan from measured load rather than assumed compliance. ``` ### What a Strong Answer Covers - Device registration, capabilities, priorities, preferences, and consent. - Control-loop design, forecasting, dispatch, acknowledgments, and re-optimization. - Offline/reconnect reconciliation and stale-command prevention. - Safety, fairness, security, auditability, and fallback operation. ### Follow-up Questions 1. How would incentives be incorporated without disadvantaging users who cannot shift load? 2. What happens if connectivity returns after an overload event has ended?