What will the smart lighting of the future look like?
The challenge consists in investigating the question of how the future's smart lighting system looks like and how it creates added value for the citizens.
Lighting posts are everywhere in the city and are an attractive infratructure for more purposes than lighting streets and squares, especially for the smart city and IoT. The sensors that contribute to the smart city need three things - electricity, somewhere to sit, and data communication. All could be facilitated by the lighting pole.
This challenge is a part of Openlab's Master's Course Challenges for the Emerging City.
What will the smart lighting of the future look like?
The challenge consists in investigating the question of how the future's smart lighting system looks like and how it creates added value for the citizens.
Lighting posts are everywhere in the city and are an attractive infratructure for more purposes than lighting streets and squares, especially for the smart city and IoT. The sensors that contribute to the smart city need three things - electricity, somewhere to sit, and data communication. All could be facilitated by the lighting pole.
This challenge is a part of Openlab's Master's Course Challenges for the Emerging City.
Introduction
The traffic office in the city of Stockholm is responsible for the city's streets, parks and squares. The responsibility includes maintaining the general illumination of the city's roads, streets, squares and parks. In figures, the traffic office lighting system consists of
- About 140 000 bright spots
- About 100 000 posts
- About 7 000 lens punch
- Energy consumption of 48 GWh / year
In April 2017, Stockholm City council adopted a strategy to become the world's smartest and most connected city in 2040. A strategy aimed at contributing to Vision 2040 - "A Stockholm for all" through digitalization .
The strategy identifies two types of projects - operations projects and prerequisite projects. Some types of operations projects are named and have since become so-called prioritzed operations projects and run by the city management office. Smart and connected lighting is one of those.
The biggest motivation factor for lighting to become a prioritized project is the great potential that is found in reduced environmental impact. Partly through energy saving when switching to LED luminaires, but also through a new control system for more efficient operation and adjustable light levels.
The challenge
The smart city of tomorrow will be more techistic than it is today and demands on the availability of digital services that will help us in our everyday lives will be higher. The opportunities with smart cities and IoT are huge, but will set requirements on the physical infrastructure. Today a large part of that infrastructure is owned and managed by the traffic office.
Lighting posts are everywhere in the city, and they have electricity. This makes the lighting posts attractive for more purposes than lighting streets and squares, especially for the smart city and IoT. The sensors that contribute to the smart city needs three things - electricity, installation infrastructure, and data communication. A lighting pole with a modern control system can satisfy all three requirements, so the challenge is to determine the role that the lighting system will have in the smart city and the development of IoT.
An important part of the strategy is social and democratic sustainability. Today the lighting is turned on and off with a simple control system. With a more modern control system and LED, the lighting can be adjusted better based on the needs of the site. Sensors are able to do this in real time. This create opportunities for a completely different environment for our citizens while saving additional energy. In addition to meeting the needs of new technology and providing the city with light, we ask ourselves what needs the citizens want the lighting system to meet?
The challenge consists in investigating the question of how the future's smart lighting system looks like and how it creates added value for the citizens.
This challenge is a part of Openlab's Master's Course Challenges for the Emerging City. Students in the course will suggest solutions and present them to the challenge giver. Feel free to participate in the challenge by sharing your ideas or give feedback to the students' solutions.
Openlab Masters Course 2018
Scream detecting light poles in public parks
This idea is based on detection of outstanding and irregular noises like loud screams and gunshots in public places. The detection of these noises would be possible with noise sensitive sensors built in to the light poles. After detecting the sensor sends the information to a receiver (cloud) where a self-learning AI-based entity evaluates the information and forward a command and location to the nearest police person in duty. Information about the poles equipped with sensors would be displayed by the entrance (see attached picture).
Openlab18
Lumos
Interactive light pole - color and shape
Implement a button on the light pole that people can push to change the shape and color of the light reflected on the ground. This can preferably be incorporated into parks in the city where children and other people who are interested can play and interact with the light.
The goal is to attract people to the park more when its dark to make the park feel safer and more inviting for the citizens.
Please share your thoughts about this idea! How would you like to interact with the light in parks?
Light pole made of recycled plastic
Plastic pollution is a big issue, so why not use it when building new light poles! By using recycled plastic when creating new light poles, less metal is used and the already existing plastic waste is put to a good use.
The goal is to reach a more sustainable city by using what we already have, ie plastic, instead of using new materials, for example metal, that causes depletion of the natural resources.
What do you think of this idea? Please share your ideas for how to reach a sustainable city.
Less poles more intelligence
The street I see from my office window is in one way similar to the image above. It is about 200m long and has about 40 light poles.
With smarter and better lighting it should be possible to reduce this to half.
The cost savings I was supposed to make room for smarter lights giving the same coverage with 20 poles.
These can also be equipped with sensors dimming the light when no one is present. Commercial areas are often very popular during evenings and nights when there's virtually no people there.
Johan Tufvander
Interactive info screens
Equip selected poles with interactive screens.
These can provide information based on where you are.
News and public information, public transport, maps, emergency calls etc.
Yes, most people have smartphones but can be useful for those who don't.
And for tourists, elderly, we sometimes forget our phones or are out of battery.
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