Automated Data Acquisition Method for a Legacy Intelligent Electronic Device

This paper presents the development and implementation of an automated data acquisition system designed to enhance relay testing for legacy Intelligent Electronic Device (IED) models with limited communication capabilities. The case study focuses on the MiCOM P443, a transmission line protection relay with only serial communication. The proposed method allows to capture fault location and classification data, automating the process previously managed manually through proprietary software. To do so, computer programs were developed, whose modular design facilitates the real-time data extraction via serial ports along with the translation of hexadecimal data packets, ensuring reliable and continuous fault event monitoring. Compared to traditional data acquisition manual methods, the proposed method drastically reduces data retrieval time and minimizes human intervention, contributing to more efficient testing procedures. The code for the algorithm presented in this paper is publicly available for replication, as well as for future work aiming to expand the data acquisition algorithm capabilities.