Smart Cities initiatives just got an important new tool courtesy of Libelium, the Spanish firm that consistenly pushes a broad and diverse vision of the Internet of Things’ potential.
It’s a modular Smart Lighting sensor that municipalities can economically integrate with other “Smart Cities” components such as traffic signals, energy meters, environmental sensors, and “Smart Parking.”
The sensor is part of Libelium’s growing Waspmote Plug & Sense! wireless sensor network platform. It works by detecting changes in ambient light, as well as temperature and humidity, and can work both in and out doors. The system allows municipalities to vary lighting levels in a given area as patterns in street usage vary during the night.
“Smart Lighting is one of the key Smart Cities applications,” said David Gascon, CTO of Libelium. “It allows municipalities to save money and energy by dimming lights during low traffic hours and to enhance security by lighting dark areas when people are passing.”
Sensors such as the lighting one can be added to the Waspmote unit or replaced without having to uninstall the mote itself, keeping maintenance costs low for a scalable and sustainable solution.
Not only can it save municipalities money, but the system can also reduce the problem of “light pollution” that many cities are trying to reduce through much more targeted use of municipal lighting.
