Patent Application
20140239815
This application claims priority to Indian Patent Application Serial No. 876/CHE/2013 filed Feb. 28, 2013, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
This invention pertains to lighting operation in general, and to methods and systems for controlling streetlight operation in particular that enables efficient lighting operation and reduces power wastage.
Streetlights are a necessary feature for any road transport related infrastructure in any organized dwelling such as a city. Very often, the lighting operation of streetlights is either manual or pre-set for a fixed time and duration of the day. Such operation leaves scope of improper management of streetlight operation that is commonly observed when the streetlights are left on during bright morning hours or are not switched on during evening and night periods. These problems arise in case of manual operation, either due to the absence of the operator, or indiscipline at the operator end.
In case of streetlights that are pre-set for switch-on and switch off sometimes the timer circuit does not work appropriately and unless routine maintenance operation is performed or unless a complaint is registered, such faulty timer circuits are not fixed and for several days at a stretch the lighting operation is affected. Further, the pre-set times do not account for any immediate ambient conditions, such as seasonal variations in sunrise and sunset times, or emergence of weather patterns that may be predicted ahead of time. These issues are a major source of revenue drain for the state and country administration and if not properly maintained, can result in lot of inconvenience to the citizens. Also, streetlights, if left switched on for long times, can adversely impact the environment.
Current streetlight operation is sub-optimal due to the reasons stated hereinabove. It is an object of the invention to provide a centralized streetlight management method and system to enable proper control and functioning of the streetlights based on dynamic lighting requirements.
In one aspect, the invention provides a method for controlling a streetlight lighting operation. The method comprises steps for providing streetlights; generating a control signal for controlling streetlight operation for at least one streetlight by a segment controller, based on one or more of control criterion; transmitting the control signal to a pole controller associated with each streetlight and operating the streetlight based on the respective control signal.
In another aspect, the invention provides a system for controlling streetlight lighting operation. The system comprises a set of streetlights; a segment controller configured to transmit control signals for controlling operation of each streetlight within the set of streetlights; and a pole controller for receiving a command representative of the control signal to operate one or more streetlights in the set of streetlights.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood when the following detailed description is read with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals represent corresponding parts throughout the drawings, wherein:
As used herein and in the claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include the plural reference unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing feature sizes, amounts, and physical properties used in the specification and claims are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term “about.” Accordingly, unless indicated to the contrary, the numerical parameters set forth in the foregoing specification and attached claims are approximations that can vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by those skilled in the art utilizing the teachings disclosed herein.
As used in this specification and the appended claims, the term “or” is generally employed in its sense including “and/or” unless the content clearly dictates otherwise.
The invention provides a system and method for managing and controlling streetlight operation in an efficient manner that leads to optimal use of the lighting infrastructure and reduces power/energy wastage.
In one embodiment, as shown in
The controller module 12 is coupled to a lighting data acquisition module 22, which in turn is coupled to a lighting data management database 24 that receives and then provides to the controller module 12 lighting data such as current ambient natural light, historic natural light data, weather information, lighting requirements of different regions and other such data useful for planning the lighting operation. The controller module 12 is also coupled to an analysis and reporting module 26 for providing analytics useful for planning the lighting operation. The controller module uses the inputs from the database 24, and analytics and reporting module 26 to generate control criterion that the segment controller such as 14 uses to control the lighting operation of streetlights 18 and 20. The control criterion in one exemplary implementation include a threshold light-on limit, beyond which the streetlights are activated to switch on and a threshold light-off limit, beyond which the streetlights are switched off. These threshold limits are dynamically monitored and changed based on historic data and current weather conditions. It would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the switching time for each streetlight or a network of streetlights can be planned and programmed on daily/monthly/yearly basis. The programming can be set as per change in nightfall schedule throughout the year.
In the exemplary embodiment, the segment controller 14 communicates to each respective pole controller 28, 30 for controlling the streetlights 18 and 20 respectively. In another embodiment each respective pole controller may be associated with more than one streetlight. The pole controllers are configured to communicate with the associated streetlight/streetlights through a hardware implementation or through wireless communication. A communication module 32 incorporating a communication interface is used in system 10 for transmitting the control signals from the segment controller 14 to pole controllers 28, 30. Additionally an extraneous hardware such as a data concentrator unit (not shown in
The pole controllers 28, 30 in one embodiment are advantageously capable of two way communication as is explained in more detail hereinafter. The pole controllers include microcontrollers and registers for enabling the two-way communication. The pole controllers may also include latch relays to respond to triggers and signals from the controller module as described herein above.
The pole controllers 28 and 30 further are configured to provide feedback referred herein as pole data to the segment controller 14 or to the lighting data acquisition module 22. The pole data includes data representative of health of the pole controller, health of the streetlight, that is translated into operative parameters for each streetlight by the segment controller 14 or the lighting data acquisition module 22. These operative parameters are transmitted to the lighting management database 24 and further to the analysis and reporting module 26 and using these operative parameters for conducting different analytics and reports that are useful in maintenance and audit functions of the pole controllers and streetlights. Output from the analytics and reporting module 26 may be in the form of alerts for maintenance, commands for the controller module, or in the form of reports displayed on other display device useful for monitoring the streetlight operation. The reports may be related for example to energy consumption analytics for each or set of streetlights, and used for planning the power distribution. The exemplary analytics and reports may also relate to the burning hours of streetlights which can be computed with good certainty and maintenance/replacement can be planned accordingly. The alerts may he communicated as short messaging service (SMS) to a concerned authority or another controller on occurrence of any programmed event or faults with exact time stamping as well. It would also be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the analysis and reporting module may send the different analytics reports to a display device or a host or a central computer or such communication device that can be accessed by a user, manager, administrator for viewing and for further planning and decision making.
Thus the system 10 provides real time monitoring and control of the lighting operation of streetlights. Aspects of system 10 are implemented in one example via API's (application protocol interfaces). Aspects of the system 10 may also be web enabled allowing access via Internet. The system 10 in an exemplary implementation may also include a cloud storage module for storing the lighting data management database and the data from the segment controller or a data concentrator unit.
The invention also provides an exemplary method for controlling a streetlight operation as shown in the flowchart 50 in
It would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the exemplary embodiments describe control and monitoring of lighting operation for streetlights, as a non-limiting example of lighting operation. The system 10 and the methods described herein are similarly applicable to other lighting operations such as common lighting in apartments and commercial buildings, community buildings and areas, parking lights, and the like.
It would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the aspects of the invention as described herein provide several advantages that include efficient management of lighting operation and power saving. The switching on/off of the streetlights can now be remotely planned, re-planned and executed as per the dynamic needs and requirements. Intelligent interface devices can be implemented through the system that can optimize the energy requirements by recording the changes in nightfall in different seasons. The system described herein utilizes communication techniques such as through the power line carrier, or wireless modes etc. and offers real time surveillance of individual group of junction boxes and lamps in the streetlights, this greatly enhances savings in operating costs. The two way communication ability of the pole controllers allows collection of precise and accurate information on electricity consumption, helps to plan preventive maintenance, and reduces maintenance cost per pole. Another advantage of the system and methods described herein is the scalability of the system as any number of new streetlights can be added to the existing network with simple and easy modifications. Other such advantages will become apparent to those skilled in the art.
While only certain features of the invention have been illustrated and described herein, many modifications and changes will occur to those skilled in the art. It is, therefore, to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit of the invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 876/CHE/2013 | Feb 2013 | IN | national |
