Weather-Adaptive Smart Street Lighting

Problem statement

Street lights are often turned on at full brightness all night regardless of traffic, which wastes energy.

Abstract

The smart street lighting system controls the brightness of lamps based on ambient light and movement. An LDR detects day or night while PIR or ultrasonic sensors detect motion of vehicles or pedestrians. Lamps stay at dim level during low traffic and brighten when motion is detected.

Components required

• Microcontroller board such as Arduino
• Light dependent resistor (LDR)
• PIR or ultrasonic motion sensors
• LED street lamp models or high power LEDs
• MOSFET or relay drivers
• Power supply and protection circuits
• Optional RTC for time based scheduling

Block diagram

Working

In daytime the LDR senses high light level and the controller keeps lights off. At night lights operate at a dim level. When motion sensors detect a vehicle or person, brightness of nearby lamps is increased for a short period and then reduced back to dim level after no motion.

Applications

• Energy efficient street and campus lighting
• Parking lots and pathways
• Smart city pilot projects
• Introductory automation and sensor project