Application Specific Computer for Intelligent Monitoring of Cabled Streetlights with Theft Detection Features

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 an application-specific computer with Raspberry Pi as the microprocessor, which can monitor streetlight electrical parameters and detect electricity and streetlight infrastructure theft. Specifically, the device can detect events such as (a) power cable theft and its location, (b) lamp theft and the number of lamps stolen, and (c) electricity theft. Moreover, a 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 device and the log of the anomalous event detected. Finally, the researchers tested the device through a prototype street lighting system. The result shows that the device is 100% accurate in detecting the aforementioned illegal activities.