Improving the quality of life and safety of citizens are just some of the objectives of the smart city.
Smart lighting makes the smart city safe through the use of innovative tools for surveillance of the territory and assistance to citizens, ensuring a higher degree of safety. Availing of networked cameras and audio solutions renders it possible to collect data and information that, coupled with smart lighting sensors, can measure the environmental conditions of the smart city, for example.
The use of smart lighting sensory systems in smart cities has the advantage of:
– Facilitating the detection of potential dangers and the recognition of false alarms;
– Monitoring areas where flooding is likely to occur, such as near streams or rivers;
– Preventing earthquakes by using a vibration monitoring and control system in historic buildings;
– Preventing fires, thanks to the possibility of detecting flames and smoke with subsequent communication of the alarm to the fire brigade and authorities.
Environmental monitoring is yet another objective of the smart city. One advantage in availing of intelligent lighting sensors lies in their monitoring of weather conditions, air and water quality and other parameters such as humidity, temperature and the level of carbon dioxide in the environment, along with other harmful gases. This makes it possible to assess any anomalies in the environment and ensure that pollution is kept at an acceptable level. In particular, reducing the level of carbon emissions, as one of the main objectives of smart cities.
Smart lighting in the smart city involves the use of public transport movement control devices, surveillance systems to improve traffic management and urban mobility, with a view to offering safety and assistance to citizens. In addition, road networks, intersections and the way people move within the smart city can also be monitored.
For example, at a pedestrian crossing, the user can avail of a presence sensor to force light emission from the luminaires in the vicinity of the crossing, resulting in greater visibility and safety.
Technology also applies to parking management in the smart city. intelligent lighting sensors can guide drivers towards open spaces. Vehicular detection facilitates a high rate of accuracy as a specific calibration is achieved with respect to the context being outlined.
Effective parking management is essential in increasingly crowded and congested cities.
Smart lighting in the smart city combined with Wi-Fi connection systems develops a synergetic relationship, benefiting municipalities and citizens alike. The aim is to utilise the existing smart lighting infrastructure to host and power Wi-Fi hotspots and to account for their consumption.
The Wi-Fi hotspot then provides other connected services that are part of the smart city paradigm, such as smart totems within the vicinity, smart lighting itself and traffic management sensors, to name a few.
Using the same smart lighting network, devices for recharging electric vehicles can be installed, fulfilling another important objective for smart cities, namely sustainability.
Hence, smart lighting can be utilised as a platform for all urban services within the smart city.
