A smart city is the dream of every city planner, and no less so of communication / IT managers in municipalities and local authorities.Aiko is committed to making every city smarter.
A modern city must be a smart, technological and connected city
Urban planning is no small matter. This is a broad, complex and advanced field, which must always be connected to the most advanced methods and the highest quality options for the improvement of the city and its means. Officials in charge of city planning and urban progress should always have their hand on the pulse. They must be familiar with the most advanced options in the field, know how to choose the correct and most appropriate ones for the city or the local authority, and how to implement them with maximum efficiency. The resolution with which you work in this area should be very high. It requires thinking about the smallest details of every street and every building, as well as technological progress and the need to develop the living space and turn it into a place that will attract both tenants and business and social investment.
These goals can be achieved through advanced systems. One of them, which is very much worth getting to know, is IoT lighting control – you will immediately understand that it is much more than just another lighting control system.
So what exactly is an IoT system , and why do you need it?
The IoT – Internet of Things system is a system whose simplest application is lighting control. That is, the ability to control the urban lighting in the various street lights through a system of remote control, as is necessary in any modern city that wants to maintain a bright and comfortable environment for all residents.
However, as we explained, it is much more than just a lighting control system. In fact, it is a system where we use the street lights and urban lighting as a platform to connect the entire city to an online network. A controller is installed in every light pole that connects to this municipal network , with an internal cellular SIM that allows it to be connected wirelessly without the need for an expensive and cumbersome physical connection. These controllers create an urban communication network on top of the lighting poles, with which you can do much more than turn the street lights on or off. In fact, it is a platform through which the basis for a smart city can be created – a city where it is possible to integrate solutions such as widely deployed cameras to prevent traffic accidents and crime, a municipal wireless Internet network open to the city’s residents and its employees, various communication solutions, and the ability to monitor and track planning issues in a connected manner.
The biggest challenge today in any municipal authority is the supply of electricity in the urban area, today there is an increasing need to connect solutions that require the supply of electricity in the urban area, and every such solution requires the supply of electricity – why not use an asset called the lighting pole, the municipality must change the concept of the lighting poles and use in them as a “hanger” that can be used for a wide variety of uses.
It can be understood, therefore, that when thinking about the city of the future and the functions and options we would like to introduce into a modern city in order to move it forward, it is a lighting control system that can significantly help in achieving the goal. If so, it’s time to review its advantages in more detail.
The benefits that an IoT system brings to your city
The IoT system has many advantages. Some of them are directly related to lighting control as a goal that needs to be achieved in itself, and some to additional functions that we can integrate and add through the system mounted on the lighting poles wirelessly and connecting the entire city to a wireless and remotely controlled network:
Accurate and cost-effective control – the control system using the IoT method makes it possible to completely control the lighting and make sure that it is as efficient and cost-effective as possible. The controllers are versatile and can be connected to both LED lamps and high pressure lamps (HPL). Remote lighting control allows not only to turn off or on the lighting in the morning and evening respectively, but also to control the lighting intensity according to the required level depending on the time of day and the level of darkness. Natural”. The ability to dim and increase the lighting when we use LED lamps ensures that our use of the city’s resources will be as efficient as possible.
The system is constantly connected – the IoT system transmits electricity and connects the lighting poles to the municipal network around the clock, 24/7. Therefore, there is no way that due to a change in winter or summer time, or due to a particularly dark night or cloudy weather – the street will suddenly not be lit when it is needed. The system is simply smart and knows how to monitor the need for lighting for us and allow us to turn it on remotely. In this way, it is possible to make sure that the residents will not be required to face difficulties known to all of us, when the urban lighting system is not connected to the reality required on the ground.
Simple and fast installation – there are quite a few options for connecting municipal control systems. However, different lighting controls can be very cumbersome at the installation level, require the closure of entire streets and require complex work at height. The IoT system is not like that. Since it is a controller with a cellular SIM, which is installed in a simple way on top of the lighting pole – the installation is very simple, does not require crane work or closing the street, and you can use it to connect the entire city quickly and efficiently.
Connection to the city of the future – the advantage that is probably the most significant in the IoT system compared to any other option is its versatility, and its ability to adapt to the current and future technological needs of our city. On the basis of the urban network that is created through this lighting control system, which is actually a system that creates a closed urban Wi-Fi network, additional functions can be installed that will make life in the city more comfortable. Urban cameras, for security or traffic purposes, can be installed and connected based on this system. An open urban Internet network can certainly be based on the controllers installed in the scattered lighting poles.
Today, in cities like Los Angeles, there is already talk of using this system for the purposes of creating urban cloud services, communication services, Bluetooth connections that can be spread over an entire city, and more. And as you will understand in a moment – this is not a story that can only succeed overseas.
AIKO provides intelligent city street lamps, equipped with the most advanced intelligent modules, so that city street lights can be managed from point to piece, from chip to network, to monitor the working status of street lamps all the time, and to achieve maximum power saving and urban road safety.