IEDExplorer is a popular open-source software utility designed to test and explore IEC 61850 power substation automation devices. It serves as a graphical client that interacts directly with Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs) like protection relays, controllers, and meters. Core Purpose & Use Cases
Substation Testing: Engineers use it to manually trigger, read, and verify data points on simulated or physical IEC 61850 servers without relying on expensive, proprietary master-station software.
Protocol Learning: It is highly regarded as an educational tool for students and engineers to understand how the complex IEC 61850 data structure works in practice.
Troubleshooting: It helps parse and inspect live communication errors or misconfigurations within a digital substation network. Technical Characteristics
Language & Framework: Developed entirely in pure C# and runs primarily inside the Microsoft .NET environment on Windows systems.
Protocol Support: Communicates with IEDs via the MMS (Manufacturing Message Specification / ISO 9506-1 and ISO 9506-2) protocol layer.
Built-in Parsers: Includes an integrated MMS ASN.1 parser to translate complex binary network packets into structured human-readable data.
Open Source: The utility is free and distributed under the open-source GNU GPL 3.0 license via developer hubs like IEDExplorer on SourceForge and various GitHub repositories. Key Features
Hierarchical Tree View: Reconstructs and displays the physical and logical structure of the target IED server (Logical Devices, Logical Nodes, Data Objects, and Attributes) into an intuitive visual layout.
Data Variables: Allows users to read telemetry values from the server or write new configurations/commands back to the device.
SCL/XML Parsing: Some extended versions of the tool allow you to import Substation Configuration Language (SCL) .xml or .scd files to build a local visual map of the data structure before connecting to live hardware.
Goose Messages: Includes basic workflows to read, edit, and transmit Generic Object Oriented Substation Events (GOOSE) for real-time protection testing.
Are you planning to test a physical IED or simulate a virtual server? ttgzs/iedexplorer – GitHub
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