ight is only switched on if there is someone in the room. Another is part of the security system, a third turns down the heating and air conditioning when the last person leaves the room, and perhaps a fourth is there to control the window blinds.
Light as the omnipresent infrastructure
Simplification is what is needed. How can the level of complexity best be reduced, how can communication among the devices be harmonised? Are there no existing infrastructure systems to which the Internet of Things can simply be “docked”? In fact, there are. Wherever there are people, whether indoors or out on the streets, there is artificial light. In many of these luminaires there is still plenty of space for one or other digital sensor or microchip – after all, digital electronics is necessary for modern LEDs.
What's more, since the luminaires need electricity the power supply is already integrated, so to speak. No one need worry any longer about cabling the individual sensors or changing batteries, which they would otherwise have to do every year or two or even more often – which in large buildings means a lot of work. What's more, luminaires are mostly installed on walls or ceilings and therefore in the best places for including sensors. And communication with them and connection to the access points for the internet can be either wireless or via the data cabling that is already in place anyway.
In short, the existing infrastructure for light is the ideal basis for the Internet of Things. Or to put it another way, the “Internet of Light” is the most powerful instrument for developing the Internet of Things into the useful tool that it can be in the future.
Here are some examples: A single presence sensor integrated out of sight in a luminaire is sufficient for detecting whether an office is occupied or not. This data is then stored in the Cloud – in other words on an Internet or intranet server – evaluated and forwarded to the HVAC systems, window blinds, security management system and of course to the lighting control system.
It can also be used for room management, i.e. to determine how well meeting rooms, offices or communal areas are used. Building operators can use this data to optimize the usage of the building and make considerable savings in costs.
If there are presence sensors in a large number of luminaires then the data can be evaluated in much finer detail, for example to optimize the lighting and air conditioning for each individual desk in an office. This principle also applies outside the office environment of course. For example, presence sensors in car park lights or street lights can indicate where there is a free parking space, pass this information on the a satnav and ensure that the free space is indicated by some visual means, such as green light.
Indoor navigation will also be possible by using “beacons”, small Bluetooth transmitters, in the luminaires. With the aid of these radio transmitters anyone with an appropriate smartphone app will be able pinpoint their location to within a few meters – ideal for finding your way round shopping centres, hospitals or airports, or even just for finding a particular product in a large DIY store. Unlike with previous systems the beacons would no longer have to be installed separately or set up individually because of a lack of a network, nor would batteries have to be regularly replaced.
Future-proof Tridonic platform
These few examples provide a good indication of the enormous potential if the Internet of Things is organised via an Internet of Light. Tridonic recognised this potential at an early stage and has applied its expertise in electronics, sensor technology, software and LED luminaire control to develop a future-proof hardware and software platform, the net4more toolbox, which consists of LED Drivers, communication modules, sensors, routers, software and applications and which will be unveiled at Light+Building 2016 in Frankfurt.
In the autumn of 2016 a technological introduction phase will start in which the net4more system will be used in pilot projects – for ex