Context aware building energy management system with heterogeneous wireless network architecture

Energy wastage in buildings is to be minimized to reduce the carbon footprint of electricity. Wireless sensor and actor networks (WSAN) have been providing solutions for effective energy management within buildings. In this paper, we present a decisive server based context aware energy management system for smart buildings through Cyber Physical System (CPS) models. A layered architecture for building energy management is proposed to enhance scalability of the system. Heterogeneous wireless network based multiple radio gateway is proposed and implemented to make the system more adaptive to different applications catering to variable data rates. A smart room test bed is deployed in the IIT Hyderabad campus, where the decisive server collects various physical parameters through sensors, and based on the context generates wireless control messages to power electronics based actuators. Integrating context awareness into the system increases the efficiency in terms of energy savings and was observed to be significant, around 30%. The paper also presents a detailed analysis on the turnaround time required to realise the real saving after recovering investments. Applications are developed to integrate smart phones and tabloids providing web enablement to the end user. In this paper, each of the sensors and actuators in the smart room are associated with a state machine, which enables modelling of the system using Hybrid automata for future scope of applications

Domótica para consciência energética e ambiental

Vivemos num período de transição energética, que pretende acelerar a migração da procura de combustíveis fósseis para soluções de energia de menor intensidade carbónica. Neste contexto, umas das melhores soluções disponíveis para o sector de consumo residencial são as fontes de energia solar fotovoltaicas. Por outro lado, assistimos à exponencialmente crescente utilização da IoT (Internet of Things) na indústria, mas também na vertente doméstica (denominada casa inteligente), que permite aliar a automatização da residência com a microprodução de energia elétrica, reduzindo o consumo de forma geral, com menos perdas e desperdícios, mas também procurando otimizar a forma como se consome energia, potenciando as fontes de energias limpas. Foi efetuada uma revisão da literatura na busca por informação relacionada com a domótica e as implementações já efetuadas noutras realidades com o objetivo de evidenciar de que forma se pode aumentar a consciência energética e ambiental, assim como o potencial das energias renováveis, com a recurso a domótica e IoT. Com este projeto pretende-se perceber a perceção dos utilizadores de domótica e de microprodução de fotovoltaica, a sua visão sobre a combinação das duas tecnologias, incluindo benefícios, riscos e os casos de utilização mais aplicáveis. Pretende-se ainda desenvolver o conceito de um sistema de informação que consiga tirar partido dos mecanismos de monitorização das fontes de energia, seja da rede ou solar fotovoltaica e despoletar ações de forma automática, dentro do contexto de habitação unifamiliar, que permitam reduzir os custos, desperdício e até acautelar cenários de avaria ou risco para os utilizadores.We are living in a period of the energy transition, which aims to accelerate the migration of demand from fossil fuels to less carbon-intensive energy solutions. In this context, one of the best solutions available for the residential consumption sector is photovoltaic solar energy sources. On the other hand, we are witnessing the exponentially increasing use of IoT (Internet of Things) in industry, but also in domestic usage (called smart home), which allows combining home automation with the micro-production of electricity, reducing consumption in general, with fewer losses and waste, but also seeking to optimize the way energy is consumed, leveraging clean energy sources. A literature review was carried out in search of information related to home automation and the implementations already made in other realities to show how energy and environmental awareness can be increased, as well as the potential of renewable energies, using home automation and IoT. This project aims to understand the perception of the users of home automation and photovoltaic microgeneration, and their vision of the combination of both technologies, including benefits, risks and the most applicable use cases. It is also intended to develop the concept of an information system that can take advantage of the mechanisms for monitoring energy sources, whether from the grid or solar photovoltaic, and trigger actions automatically, within the context of single-family homes, to reduce costs, waste and even prevent failure scenarios or risks for users

A User-Centred Methodology to Design and Simulate Smart Home Environments and Related Services

openI progressi nelle tecnologie di automazione e comunicazione all'interno degli edifici residenziali offrono molti interessanti vantaggi per lo sviluppo delle Smart Home, come l'aumento di efficienza energetica, il miglioramento il comfort per gli abitanti e la riduzione dei costi operativi per il proprietario. L'aggregazione e la condivisione dei dati all'interno delle reti possono essere garantite dal moderno approccio denominato Internet delle cose (IoT) e supportati dalle nuove tecnologie dell'informazione e della comunicazione (ICT). Tali tecnologie si stanno evolvendo e le abitazioni stanno diventando luoghi tecnologici popolati da una moltitudine di dispositivi in grado di raccogliere una grande quantità di dati e di cooperare in modo intelligente per controllare tutti i dispositivi connessi, come gli elettrodomestici, l'illuminazione, i sistemi di riscaldamento, ecc. Da un lato, l’intelligenza crescente dei dispositivi connessi produce una grande quantità di dati; dall'altro lato, la complessità di tali dati crea difficoltà di classificazione, trasmissione ed interpretazione delle informazioni utili. Entrambi gli aspetti possono ridurre drasticamente i potenziali vantaggi e limitare la diffusione dei cosiddetti dispositivi “smart”. Mentre a livello aziendale già esistono soluzioni di automazione affermate ed ampiamente utilizzate, le applicazioni per le abitazioni private sono ancora di difficile diffusione a causa della mancanza di standard di comunicazione e della presenza di dispositivi e sistemi altamente eterogenei e quindi di difficile integrazione. Inoltre, anche quando la connessione tra due dispositivi viene stabilita, renderli interoperabili è un’altra grande sfida a causa delle differenze nelle modalità di funzionamento e della difficoltà di integrazione dell'interfaccia. Infatti, le Smart Home non consentono ancora una elevata interoperabilità e gli studi fatti sono spesso fortemente orientati alla tecnologia e concentrati sulle potenzialità dei singoli sottosistemi, trascurando i benefici per gli utenti finali. A tale scopo, questo lavoro definisce un modello di gestione delle informazioni per ambienti domestici intelligenti con lo scopo di supportare la progettazione e la simulazione dei dispositivi “smart” nonché dei servizi sviluppati. Tale modello considera diverse tipologie di dispositivi, le relazioni esistenti tra loro, i flussi informativi e le modalità di interazione dell’utente per modellare correttamente l'ambiente e definirne il comportamento. Il modello sviluppato supporta la progettazione della Smart Home ed è in grado di simulare le funzionalità dei dispositivi con lo scopo finale di valutare i benefici dei servizi forniti.The advances in home automation and communication technologies offer several attractive benefits for the modern smart home, such as increased energy efficiency, improved residential comfort and reduced operative costs for the homeowner. Data aggregation and sharing within the networks can be guaranteed by modern Internet of Things (IoT) approaches and supported by available Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) tools. Such technologies are evolving and the private houses are becoming technological places populated by a multitude of devices able to collect a huge quantity of data and to cooperate in an intelligent way to control different domains, from household appliances to lighting or heating and ventilation. On one hand, the rising intelligence of smart devices makes a large amount of data available; on the other hand, data complexity creates difficulties in classifying, transmitting and interpreting essential data. Both aspects may drastically reduce the potential advantages and limit the diffusion smart devices. While in building automation proven solutions already exist, tailored applications for private houses and integration among heterogeneous devices and systems are still challenging due to the lack of standards and the variety of adopted communication protocols and data model schemas. Furthermore, even when the device connection and consolidation are achieved, making them cooperate in an interoperable way is another big challenge due to differences in usage paradigms, operation modes and interface integration. In fact, Smart Homes still lack of high interoperability and researches are often strongly technology-oriented and focused on single sub-system potentialities neglecting the expected benefits for the final users. For this purpose, the presented research defines an information management model for the smart home environment to support design and simulation of its devices as well as the enabled services. Such a model considers different device typologies, their mutual relationships, the information flows and the user interaction modalities in order to properly model the environment and define its behavior. It supports the design of the smart home by simulating the devices’ functionalities and estimating the expected performances.INGEGNERIA MECCANICA E GESTIONALEopenCapitanelli, AndreaCapitanelli, Andre

Advances in Public Transport Platform for the Development of Sustainability Cities

Modern societies demand high and varied mobility, which in turn requires a complex transport system adapted to social needs that guarantees the movement of people and goods in an economically efficient and safe way, but all are subject to a new environmental rationality and the new logic of the paradigm of sustainability. From this perspective, an efficient and flexible transport system that provides intelligent and sustainable mobility patterns is essential to our economy and our quality of life. The current transport system poses growing and significant challenges for the environment, human health, and sustainability, while current mobility schemes have focused much more on the private vehicle that has conditioned both the lifestyles of citizens and cities, as well as urban and territorial sustainability. Transport has a very considerable weight in the framework of sustainable development due to environmental pressures, associated social and economic effects, and interrelations with other sectors. The continuous growth that this sector has experienced over the last few years and its foreseeable increase, even considering the change in trends due to the current situation of generalized crisis, make the challenge of sustainable transport a strategic priority at local, national, European, and global levels. This Special Issue will pay attention to all those research approaches focused on the relationship between evolution in the area of transport with a high incidence in the environment from the perspective of efficiency

Intelligent technologies for the aging brain: opportunities and challenges

Intelligent computing is rapidly reshaping healthcare. In light of the global burden of population aging and neurological disorders, dementia and elderly care are among the healthcare sectors that are most likely to benefit from this technological revolution. Trends in artificial intelligence, robotics, ubiquitous computing, neurotechnology and other branches of biomedical engineering are progressively enabling novel opportunities for technology-enhanced care. These Intelligent Assistive Technologies (IATs) open the prospects of supporting older adults with neurocognitive disabilities, maintain their independence, reduce the burden on caregivers and delay the need for long-term care (1, 2). While technology develops fast, yet little knowledge is available to patients and health professionals about the current availability, applicability, and capability of existing IATs. This thesis proposes a state-of-the-art analysis of IATs in dementia and elderly care. Our findings indicate that advances in intelligent technology are resulting in a rapidly expanding number and variety of assistive solutions for older adults and people with neurocognitive disabilities. However, our analysis identifies a number of challenges that negatively affect the optimal deployment and uptake of IATs among target users and care institutions. These include design issues, sub-optimal approaches to product development, translational barriers between lab and clinics, lack of adequate validation and implementation, as well as data security and cyber-risk weaknesses. Additionally, in virtue of their technological novelty, intelligent technologies raise a number of Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (ELSI). Therefore, a significant portion of this thesis is devoted to providing an early ethical Technology Assessment (eTA) of intelligent technology, hence contributing to preparing the terrain for its safe and ethically responsible adoption. This assessment is primarily focused on intelligent technologies at the human-machine interface, as these applications enable an unprecedented exposure of the intimate dimension of individuals to the digital infosphere. Issues of privacy, integrity, equality, and dual-use were addressed at the level of stakeholder analysis, normative ethics and human-rights law. Finally, this thesis is aimed at providing evidence-based recommendations for guiding participatory and responsible development in intelligent technology, and delineating governance strategies that maximize the clinical benefits of IATs for the aging world, while minimizing unintended risks