Smart lighting: Developing a smarter control mechanism for park trail lighting

The focus of this project is a smart lighting system for commuter bike paths that only illuminates specific lights when users are present on that section of the path. Alternative methods of commuting to work, such as biking, are becoming more popular in the Charlottesville area. To meet this growth, the Charlottesville Parks and Recreation department is developing several commuter paths. There are currently no lighting systems in place for the newly developed paths. While keeping the paths lit for specific hours seems reasonable, doing so not only uses excess energy, but prior research has also shown that lighting park areas when people are not present encourages criminal activity. A smart lighting system is better equipped to deal with irregular use and provide safety to its users. The objectives driving this project are enhancing the safety of commuter paths in parks while maintaining cost and energy effectiveness. The new lighting system will accomplish these objectives by lighting sections of the path after dark, only when that section is in use. The system uses PIR sensors on each light pole to detect path users and transmit information to an Arduino microcontroller mounted on that pole, which turns on specific lights using a relay. When the PIR sensor detects a user, the light at that pole and the lights in front and behind turn on. For the basic wired design of the system, all information is conducted using 22 AWG wires, while the preferred wireless design uses Xbee modules to transmit information between Arduinos. The final deliverable is a functional wireless prototype installed as a demonstration project in a Charlottesville Park.