As we gathered from earlier articles, SMART City is a Process. Like Humans, there is no finality, but rather it keeps on evolving. As populations around the globe increase, rapid urbanization spreads too, and due to which governments have to accommodate and facilitate these large numbers of people, in an organized and well planned manner with the systems, resources and knowledge available. Ninety per cent (90%) of world’s population growth is expected to occur in fast growing, advancing and under developed economies. Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) and Green Initiatives & Practices (GI&P) are the Core and the lifeline of the concept of SMART. Lately, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is also considered by experts to positively contribute to the concept of SMART. These three elements are critical to lay a strong foundation, for a Sustainable SMART City. There are four pillars of a SMART City, namely, Physical, Economic, Institutional and Social infrastructures, upon which the SMART City framework is built which provides and facilitates all services to its citizens in a swift, easy, safe, transparent, user friendly and precise targeted manner, thus greatly improving the quality and way of life for its citizens, the health and thus the longevity of life, of the citizens, increasing efficiency and productivity on all fronts and of all, while reducing costs and benefitting in savings of time, money and efforts. The concept of SMART, can be implemented in any one or more or all areas in a city, depending on the needs and requirements, the resources available, and the capabilities and capacities of a city. A city can opt to become SMART, gradually and step by step, in selected areas. An ideal SMART City can be broadly categorized and implemented in following areas of a city : Building Construction and Management Roads, Transportation, Traffic and Parking Systems and Management Energy Systems and Management Water Systems and Management Waste Water and Solid Waste Systems and Management Safety and Security Systems and Management Education Healthcare and Human Services Systems and Management City Governance Systems and Management Communications Systems and Management Home Systems and Management Computing, Monitoring and Data Analytics Systems and Management Studies establish that this ideal SMART City infrastructure and systems last upto one hundred and fifty years. This brings us to the question of financing to create an ideal SMART City. Certainly, as the proverb goes, ‘to reap the fruits of anything, one needs to put in Continue Reading
IOT for Smart Agriculture
The Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN (FOA) predicts that the global population will reach 8 billion people by 2025 and 9.6 billion people by 2050. In order to keep pace, food production must increase by 70 percent by 2050. To be able to fulfil this crucial need we need to first look into the various challenges of the agricultural sector. Some of the challenges being, limited amount of arable land, climate change, limited amount of fresh water, and the price and availability of energy. In order to counter these challenges the Food and Agriculture Organization recommends that farming sectors should be equipped with tools and techniques and digital technology. Technological developments have led to the building of smart cities. IoT is one such technology which is already being used in the development of smart cities. This IoT technology can now be used to do smart farming or precision farming. The Internet of Things (IoT) is gradually transforming the agriculture sector by providing new methods and enabling farmers to contend with the challenges they face. The IoT is based on technologies such as GPS services, sensors and big data, and ICT- based support systems backed by real time data. The IOT based system gathers data, analyses it and provides appropriate responses to the information received. This can provide information concerning various aspects of farming which was not possible previously. Such information enables the farmer and gives him a better understanding which would help to him to take smarter decisions resulting in, less wastage and maximum efficiency/productivity in farming. The Internet of Things helps in increasing crop productivity by way of managing and controlling farming activities such as the following: Water Management: Water is the basic requirement for farming and its adequate supply is crucial for crops. If water is in excess, or scarce, it could have adverse effects or practically destroy crops. Water management systems provide a solution to manage and control water supply for crop irrigation. The system is able to analyze the water requirement of the crop and controls the supply of water thus providing just the right amount and saving the precious supply of water. The irrigation system is connected with sensors and valves which operate timely without human intervention. Weather forecast systems/Climate monitoring and forecasting: Accurate and timely communication of real time data through weather forecast systems can help farmers to plan agricultural processes such as plantation, harvesting, availability and cost of labour, well in advance. Pest management/control: Very often crops are destroyed by pests due to which farmers suffer huge monetary losses. To prevent or control pests to a large extent, the agriculture IoT has systems that monitor, scan, identify and track the environment and plant growth. There are pest control sensors that use the scanned data to predict pest Continue Reading
Smart Street light reduces power bill of Municipal Corporation
Street lighting is a very important public service provided by public authorities at the local and municipal level. Good lighting is essential for public safety, road safety, and overall ambience of a place. Street lighting ensures visibility in the dark for pedestrians, motorists and cyclists, thereby reducing road accidents. Street lighting also indirectly facilitates crime prevention by increasing safety and security of people and property (private and public). Good street lighting effects can boost and add to the appeal of a city. Some problem areas However, many street lighting facilities are old and outdated and therefore not efficient. This leads to higher energy requirement and high maintenance too. For municipalities with such outdated systems, street lighting can account for around 30-50% of their entire power consumption. For example, in India most of the street lights are sodium vapour lights, metal halides, and some CFLs. An estimated 20 to 40% of the energy produced in India goes into the lighting of street lights. Although, with the rise in solar technology, solar powered streetlights are also seen in some areas now. In the current lighting situation there is no baseline data or system which provides information regarding faulty lights. Electricity theft is another problem area and as of now there is no particular method of finding out the amount of electricity consumed by each light. Thus there is no specific way to determine if there is a leak somewhere in the line. Despite electricity shortage, it has been frequently observed that street lights are working/on, even during the day. This is wastage of electricity. It could be due to human error or negligence. However, in the end, the financial burden lies on the municipal corporation. Suggested solutions Since streetlights are such an essential part of every city, supporting people and businesses with safety, security and convenience, it would be better (financially and environmentally) if we could use our street lighting network in a smarter, more intelligent way rather than the current on-off system. All parts of the world are now converting to energy-efficient LED street lighting, which is brighter and more adjustable. LED lights have two key benefits- energy efficiency and long service life. As a longer service life means considerable reductions in maintenance costs. Intelligent/smart control systems create additional savings potential as the street lighting level can be adjusted (reduced or increased) in line with requirements, thus providing substantial energy savings. Automated control and monitoring system provides better functionality and efficiency which helps in tracking energy consumption. Smart street lighting technology can provide detailed analytics that would be helpful in the execution and maintenance of street lighting. Smart street lighting solutions (IoT based analytics and remote monitoring) will empower municipal Continue Reading
Smart city- Battery operated vehicles for less pollution and other advantages
It is known that conventional vehicles produce a lot of carbon emissions that get ejected into the atmosphere. This causes severe pollution and is also one of the main causes for global warming. Smart cities need to make reforms towards energy and transport model for both, private and public alike. This would minimize environmental and acoustic impact of transport, improve air quality and thus improve citizen’s quality of life.One of the leading smart city initiatives involves controlling pollution in all its forms. This can be done by reducing the number of gasoline vehicles on the roads and replacing them with battery operated/electric vehicles. The use of Electric vehicles (EVs) or battery operated vehicles are seen by governments as an alternative to conventional vehicles and are instrumental in cutting down emissions and thereby reducing global warming.To understand how EVs are better and produce far less pollution than their gasoline counterparts we need to look into the lifecycle of vehicles (from manufacturing of the vehicle’s body and battery to its final disposal/reuse). Each stage of the manufacturing process is linked with carbon dioxide (main cause of pollution) and other greenhouse gas emissions. But the emissions differ in gasoline powered vehicles and battery operated vehicles during the manufacturing process.The main component that distinguishes an EV from a gasoline vehicle is its battery. Since electric vehicles store power in large lithium-ion batteries which are material and energy intensive to produce, their global warming emissions at the manufacturing stage usually exceed those of conventional vehicles.These differences in emission at the production/manufacturing stage change as soon as the EV hits the road and the environmental picture starts to improve. In other words, the extra emissions associated with EV production are rapidly negated by (reduced) no emission from driving as against the gasoline powered vehicles which emit carbon dioxide and other gases into the atmosphere.Advantages of an electric vehicle/battery operated vehicle:No gas requirement: Electric vehicles get power from batteries that are installed inside the car. The battery provides power to the motors for the vehicle to run and also for other functions like lights, wipers etc. The batteries are powered by electricity. Since these vehicles are charged by electricity you don’t need to buy expensive gas (fuel). Driving conventional fuel based cars is getting more expensive day by day as fuel prices are going up. It’s not that electricity is free but it is cheaper than gas and hence electric vehicles are cheaper to run.Size matters: Unlike the earlier versions of EVs which were only two seaters, vehicle manufacturing companies now offer 4 to 5 seater vehicles. Besides this, these vehicles also have autopilot features with good mile-range.Money smart: To save the fragile environment from further degradation, governments are now alert and aware and offering Continue Reading