Traffic Lights Control Prototype Using Wireless Technologies

This paper presents a traffic lights control prototype using wireless technologies, i.e., Arduino and XBee technologies, with at least 1 km range. The algorithm and the grid also allow flow of information between message boards and multiple wireless sensors networks in an interconnected system. The communication range between the points of interest can be changed according to the needs of each network, so that this prototype can be applied almost everywhere. The prototype in this paper allows great flexibility allowing the network to adapt to local failures or unforeseen cases. Even the control center can be moved to other place without large drawbacks, especially when compared to all the bunch of cables used in point to point connections

The Daily and Hourly Energy Consumption and Load Forecasting Using Artificial Neural Network Method: A Case Study Using a Set of 93 Households in Portugal

AbstractIt is important to understand and forecast a typical or a particularly household daily consumption in order to design and size suitable renewable energy systems and energy storage. In this research for Short Term Load Forecasting (STLF) it has been used Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) and, despite the consumption unpredictability, it has been shown the possibility to forecast the electricity consumption of a household with certainty. The ANNs are recognized to be a potential methodology for modeling hourly and daily energy consumption and load forecasting. Input variables such as apartment area, numbers of occupants, electrical appliance consumption and Boolean inputs as hourly meter system were considered. Furthermore, the investigation carried out aims to define an ANN architecture and a training algorithm in order to achieve a robust model to be used in forecasting energy consumption in a typical household. It was observed that a feed-forward ANN and the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm provided a good performance. For this research it was used a database with consumption records, logged in 93 real households, in Lisbon, Portugal, between February 2000 and July 2001, including both weekdays and weekend. The results show that the ANN approach provides a reliable model for forecasting household electric energy consumption and load profile

Wireless technologies for Controlling a Traffic Lights Prototype

This paper presents a traffic light control system based on wireless communication technologies. Traffic density is increasing at an alarming rate in developing countries which calls for intelligent dynamic traffic light control systems to replace the conventional manual and time based ones. The approach followed in this paper is based in a secure wireless sensor network to feed real time data to the intelligent traffic light control. A physical prototype was implemented for experimental validation. The physical prototype showed robustness against local failures or unforeseen cases showing that the communication between modules keeps an acceptable packets received ratio

Energy Household Forecast with ANN for Demand Response and Demand Side Management

This paper presents a short term load forecasting with artificial neural networks. Despite the great imprevisibility, it is possible to forecast the electricity consumption of a household with some accuracy, similarly to that the electricity utilities can do to an agglomerate of households. Nowadays, in an existing electric grid, it is important to understand and forecast household daily or hourly consumption with a reliable model for electric energy consumption and load profile. Demand response programs required this information to adequate the profile of energy load diagram to generation. In the short term load forecasting model, artificial neural networks were used, with a consumption records database. The results show that the artificial neural networks approach provides a reliable model for forecasting household electric energy consumption and load profile. To do so and using smart devices such as cyber-physical systems monitoring, gathering and computing in real time a database with weekdays and weekend, can improve forecasts results for the next hours, a strong tool for Demand Response and Demand Side Management

Traffic Light Using Multiple Wireless Technologies

This paper presents the study and experimental tests for the viability analysis of using multiple wireless technologies in urban traffic light controllers in a Smart City environment. Communication drivers, different types of antennas, data acquisition methods and data processing for monitoring the network are presented. The sensors and actuators modules are connected in a local area network through two distinct low power wireless networks using both 868 MHz and 2.4 GHz frequency bands. All data communications using 868 MHz go through a Moteino. Various tests are made to assess the most advantageous features of each communication type. The experimental results show better range for 868 MHz solutions, whereas the 2.4 GHz presents the advantage of self-regenerating the network and mesh. The different pros and cons of both communication methods are presented

The critic liquid-gas phase transition between liquid nitrogen and YBCO HTS bulks: from FEM modeling to its experimental study for ZFC levitation devices

This paper presents an experimentally verified finite-element multiphysics model developed to simulate the coupled electro and thermodynamic processes (electromagnetic, thermal, and fluid-flow with liquid-gas phase transition) occurring between liquid nitrogen (LN 2 ) and HTS YBCO bulks. The model allows estimating: 1) the thermal time constants related to bulk HTS losing/gaining its superconducting state, and mainly 2) the LN 2 liquid-to-gas flow rate due to superconductor Joule losses caused by electromagnetic induction heating of it. Model accuracy is evaluated, for example, by comparing the cooling time needed to zero-field-cool the YBCO bulk, and the quantity of LN 2 vaporized as the superconductor cool. Other important issues identified were time evolution and spatial distribution of temperature in the superconductor, heat flux, nitrogen liquid flow, and also nitrogen gas concentration for specific cooling scenarios. Full-scale experimental tests in our laboratory allowed us to validate with success the model and its effectiveness predictions

Upgrading a legacy manufacturing cell to IoT

Many industries, like aeronauting construction are still equipped with legacy machines and are not keen to change old, however fully functional, equipment to new ones. Hence, an upgrade must be found to cope the legacy and fully functional machines to IOT technologies. This paper is a contribution to embrace those challenges in a new IoT architecture able to support the creation of solutions for Smart Industries. Internet of Things is increasing acceptance and the infrastructure for them is becoming available. This leads to an insurgence on investments and development of new dedicated IoT infrastructures. Industries need to adapt quickly to this constant technological evolution, implementing measures and connecting machines and robots at critical points to the Internet, instrumenting them using the concept of IoT, with the major goal of implementing a flexible, secure, easy to maintain and capable to evolve infrastructure, when legacy equipment is involved. The availability of machines and other critical assets directly affects the effectiveness of manufacturing operations. The architecture design offers security, flexibility, simplicity of implementation and maintenance, and is resilient to failures or attacks and technologically independent. Field tests are reported to evaluate key aspects of the proposed architecture

Wireless networks for traffic light control on urban and aerotropolis roads

This paper presents a traffic lights system based on wireless communication, providing a support infrastructure for intelligent control in smart cities and aerotropolis scope. An aerotropolis is a metropolitan subregion which infrastructure is centered around an airport [1]. Traffic intensity is increasing all over the world. Intelligent dynamic traffic lights system control are sought for replacing classic conventional manual and time based systems. In this work a wireless sensors network is designed and implemented to feed real time data to the intelligent traffic lights systems control. A physical prototype is implemented for experimental validation outside laboratory environment. The physical prototype shows robustness against unexpected issues or local failures. Results are positive in the scope of the experiences made and promising in terms of extending the tests to larger areas

Prototype of a zero-field-cooled YBCO bearing with continuous ring permanent magnets

Based on the levitating design of the Zero-Field-Cooled (ZFC) Maglev previously developed, a novel horizontal ZFC superconductor magnetic bearing (SMB) is currently being developed. However, simulations have shown that its stator and rotor made of YBCO bulks and NdFeB permanent magnets (PM), respectively, present significant magnetic discontinuities. These produce asymmetries on the bearing rotation and several stable and unstable position angles that prevent the SMB from rotating smoothly, leading to a step motor like sort of rotation. Those drawbacks are now avoided by using ring shape PMs, leading not only to a smooth rotation of the SMB but also increasing its stability. New three-dimensional finite element method simulations and a set of experimental tests with the new SMB show in this paper the viability and increased performance when ring shape PMs are used. Finally, experimental results using the prototype also show that the model fits very well with the laboratory test results

Conception of a YBCO Superconducting ZFC-Magnetic Bearing Virtual Prototype

This paper presents the conception of an original superconducting Frictionless Zero Field Cooling bearing virtual prototype. In previous work also shown in this conference, a viability study of a Zero Field Cooling-superconducting bearing concept was conducted. It showed that the virtual prototype is feasible. Moreover, the simulation studies showed that a Zero Field Cooling superconducting track provides not only effective lateral stability but also higher levitation forces than the commonly used Field Cooling tracks. In this paper the new Zero Field Cooling -bearing virtual prototype is modeled in 3D. The virtual prototype was designed having in mind: i) a future implementation in high density polyurethane, for low temperature robustness; ii) future manufacturing in a three axes CNC milling machine and; iii) future implementation of some parts using an additive manufacturing technique