Igors worked on

Making light work

Designing a management system for outdoor lighting that helps save energy and reduce maintenance costs.

Year

2021

Duration

300h

Role

Research, ideation, validation, prototyping.

Dashboard

Problems solved

Data visualisation

Developing clear visual representations of system status, energy usage, and maintenance needs that enable quick decision-making.

Alert prioritisation

Designing notification systems that highlight critical issues without causing alert fatigue.

Mobile accessibility

Ensuring the system works effectively across devices for field technicians.

Workflow optimisation

Mapping and streamlining maintenance processes to reduce response times and simplify routine tasks.

Data collection and analysis

Reports on lighting usage, energy consumption, and environmental conditions to inform decision-making.

Scale and growth

Suitable for use in cities of different sizes: from towns to metropolitan areas.

Who we designed for

Primary users

People who work with the system directly.

City planners and analysts

Optimise city lighting for energy efficiency, cost savings, and enhanced public safety.

Operations administrators

Ensure the lighting infrastructure is functional and well-maintained.

Maintenance technicians

Perform repairs.

Secondary users

People who set the goals of the system and/or depend on it in some ways.

Urban designers and architects

Integrate smart lighting with broader urban design projects.

Environmental analyst

Minimize environmental impact and promote sustainability.

Community members

Benefit from improved lighting for safety, convenience, and quality of life.

Policy makers and government officials

Develop and implement policies that leverage smart lighting for broader city benefits.

Solution highlights

Navigating lighting infrastructure

The system offers dual visualization of street lights – both as an organized hierarchical list and on an interactive map. Each display method provides real-time status monitoring to accommodate different user needs.

Map style

Unlike regular maps that emphasize roads and landmarks, lighting management maps prioritize the lighting infrastructure itself as the primary visual element. The base map is simplified to remove details irrelevant to lighting management.

Districts
Districsts
Areas
Areas
Street
Streets
Example of devices displayed on a map

Energy profiles

Adaptive brightness schedules automatically adjust illumination levels based on time of day, season, local sunset/sunrise times, and amount of traffic. Custom dimming patterns can be set for different urban zones (residential, commercial, industrial, parks). Energy consumption parameters set the maximum and minimum power thresholds based on municipal policies. Profile can also represent a special event override for temporary lighting requirements (festivals, emergencies, construction).

Profiles are created and managed independently, then assigned to specific areas or individual devices, ensuring they can be reused across multiple locations.

Profile example

Metric visualisation

Example
Segment controller and its metrics

Reports

Report example

Personal takeaways

IoT ecosystem knowledge

Practical experience with sensors, connectivity options, power constraints, and data management in real-world Internet of Things applications.

Scalability challenges

Insights into designing solutions that can scale from small pilot projects to citywide implementations.

Long lifecycle considerations

Designing for products with 10+ year lifespans, including maintainability, durability, and future upgradability.