Unity Game Engine as a Simulation Platform: Voltage Regulation in 3D Low-Voltage Networks

Abstract:
This paper demonstrates the possibility of Unity, a game engine traditionally used for 3D gaming and virtual reality, as a simulation and control platform for power systems. Building upon our prior work that integrated Newton-Raphson load flow analysis into the Unity game engine, this study introduces an existing interactive and adaptive control mechanism, Linear Droop-Based Active Power Curtailment (LDAPC), for active power curtailment based on local voltage measurements. The Unity game engine successfully simulates this interactive load flow with adaptive control on a standard computer. Custom functions are used for solver, model update, and data handling, to simulate a 19-bus radial distribution network with twelve houses equipped with solar panels. The built-in physics of the game engine is used to calculate the solar irradiance on the panels based on the sun’s position linked to specific coordinates. Once initialized, the simulation can demonstrate the effectiveness of the chosen control strategy at different locations across seasonal PV generation, diurnal cycles, and panel tilt angles. MATLAB comparative validation demonstrates that the Unity-based system generates outcomes in line with results from MATLAB. This work is a step towards immersive and interactive simulation environments that can make power system planning more accessible for education, training, and decision-making.