Arc_EffNet: A Novel Series Arc Fault Detection Method Based on Lightweight Neural Network

Arc faults can cause a severe electric fire, especially series arc faults. Artificial intelligence (AI)-based arc fault detection methods can have a boasted detection accuracy. However, the complexity and large parameter quantity of the AI-based algorithm will hinder its real-time performance for detecting series arc faults. This paper proposes a lightweight arc fault detection method based on the EffNet module, which can make the algorithm less complex with the same detection accuracy level. An arc fault test platform was constructed to collect arc current data, covering eight types of loads required by the IEC 62606 standard. The raw arc current data are used directly as an input for the proposed algorithm, reducing the module’s complexity. According to features of arc current mainly represented in the time domain, the first and last convolution layers of the EffNet module can be improved. Additionally, the spatially separable convolution is well-tuned and trimmed to achieve a more lightweight and better-performance architecture for arc fault detection called Arc_EffNet. Remarkably, this model achieves an impressive arc detection accuracy of 99.75%. An arc fault detection prototype was built using the Raspberry Pi 4B to evaluate the real-time detecting performance of the proposed method. The experimental results show that the prototype takes a time of about 72 ms to respond to a series arc fault, which can fulfill the requirement of real-time detection for arc faults.