Advanced Monitoring System for Streetlights with Theft Identification Features (AMoSSTIF) Using Raspberry Pi

Abstract

Street lighting systems are vital for rural and urban development as they provide safety for motorists and pedestrians. It is also forecasted the emergence of intelligent street lighting as part of the development of smart cities. However, street lightings are prone to infrastructure theft and electricity pilferage as they are exposed to the public, especially in poor urban regions where cabled streetlights are commonly used. To protect it from such activities, the researchers developed a prototype device called AMoSSTIF based on Raspberry Pi, which can monitor streetlight electrical parameters and detect electricity and streetlight infrastructure theft. Specifically, the AMoSSTIF can detect events such as: (a) power cable theft and its location; (b) lamp theft and its location; (c) burnt-out lamp and its location; and (d) electricity theft. Moreover, the system is equipped with an alarm feature when such activities are detected. GSM module is also installed in the device so that it can text streetlight administrators responsible for streetlight monitoring when strange incidents occur. In addition, a website is developed for viewing the gathered electrical parameters data of the AMoSSTIF and the video recording of the attached IP camera of the system. Finally, the researchers tested the device through a prototype street lighting system. The result shows that the AMoSSTIF is 100% accurate in detecting the aforementioned illegal activities.