Critique 2 Narsolis.docx

A Critique Paper on 2S19 ECE 525a - Industrial Electronics Danah Mae G. Narsolis University of Southeastern Philippines

Title: Smart Street Lighting System with Light Intensity Control using Power Electronics Author: Omkar Rudrawar, Siddharth Daga, Janak Raj Chadha, P.S. Kulkarni Link: https://bit.ly/2T6g9Zj

Past Studies Street Lighting System plays an essential role in the development of the industrial sector of the country. Street lights perform to either two states, on or off. Overlighted streets, waste energy, generate high Carbon Dioxide emission and expensive operational cost. Some urban areas in the world still stick to the manual control of street light systems. This system is inefficient and hassle. It has consumed a large amount of power in the industry, thus, indirectly affecting the environment. In China, light control systems are backboned by different controls including time and optical. However, this method has its drawback due to the backward lighting, having poor precision. This situation led Wu, Y., Shi, C., Zhang, X., & Yang, W. to develop a new street light control system. The study produced a street controller system that works by a photoelectric device which is automatically controlled and by a precise control on timing. (Wu, n.d.) Recent developments in technology flagged the way to Street Lighting System powered by solar energy. These solar street lights bring no harm to the environment, making it the primary advantage of these devices. These are also equipped with sensors for the dark and light presence and offers long-term benefits. (Mohapatra, Dash, & Jarika, 2017) However, solar panels generate less light energy when the residue of dust heap upon the surface.

Present Studies The project is consisting of four main components namely a Wifi Module (NodeMCU), a circuit for controlling the light intensity, an Arduino microcontroller and an ultrasonic sensor. First, the system will retrieve information from the internet. The report contains the sunrise or sunset data. After that, it will get the current time t. If the current time matches the sunset data, the street lights will be automatically turned on through the intensity circuit controller. The intensity controller has TRIAC as its main component. Most AC control applications use a TRIAC, a thyristor-device, for its bidirectional characteristic. However, it is necessary to trigger a TRIAC through its gate before it functions. The project utilizes the Wi-Fi module Node MCU as the triggering device for the trial. The data retrieved triggered the triac accordingly. It is prolonging the firing delay angle that results in a decrease in output voltage, thus varying the triggering time. Thus, controlling the intensity. The process went on and on until the time t equates the sunrise time retrieved from the internet. It will then give the signal to the controller to stop the lights. The Arduino microcontroller will then retrieve the sensor data and send it to a cloud server. The cloud server will analyze the data and generate the required intensity percentage.

On the other hand, to detect cars, the system uses ultrasonic sensors. When the sensor detects a vehicle, it will produce an output of greater than one thus increasing the vehicle count by one. The sunrise/sunset data and the sensor data are transferred to the Controller through the tool Internet of Things simultaneously. The study proved the efficiency in power consumption since the total annual savings computed from 150 street lights with a 60 wattage each amounted to Rs 72,000. The project used PSim in the simulation process as well as the analysis of data.

Future Studies Smart Street Lighting System that uses nature as an inspiration. The street lights must utilize prisms that reflects light from the vehicles that pass by; thus there is no energy and no light pollution manifested. Also, Bioluminescent algae, tiny creatures that glow in the dark, can be intensively experimented to prospect as an alternative to public lights.

Critique

Relevance and Timeliness. The study is both relevant and timely in a way that it is very applicable to the place of Davao City. The said city currently has the automation system, but it does not work with sensors regarding the sunrise and sunset. Since the study is energy-efficient, it will help save a significant amount of money. Most automated and smart systems are also costly, but this project is not that costly.

Technical Content. The research paper provided solutions and analytical designs on improving the street light system nowadays; however, some subjects were vague and not clearly explained.

Novelty and Originality. The paper is an innovation to many proposed smart system for street lighting; however, what makes the study unique is the integration of the traffic sensor and sunset/sunlight sensor with the advent of the Internet of Things.

Quality of Presentation. Some terms were not defined such as the Zero Crossing Detector and optocoupler IC.

Strengths. The proposed research project is very efficient and is not only constricted to street lights because it also works on different types of lighting material such as Halogen bulbs, Light Emitting Diodes and many more. The system does not even need a substantial installation cost since it can operate on the current street light system with a little addition on small circuits only. A device is directly added in series at the terminals of the source hence there is no need for rewiring. It conserves a significant amount of money and saves a large amount of work. The

system eliminated the problem of dark spot, and it is open for technological integration like realtime traffic control.

Weaknesses. The paper did not explicitly state the effect of hourly traffic on the control of the intensity of light on the street lighting system. It is also questionable why the study uses vehicle movement to control the timing of lighting.

Overall Recommendation. 7/10