Hierarchical approach for intelligent lighting control in future urban environments

This paper proposes a novel concept and the related architecture for scalable and flexible lighting control in cities. The goal is to minimize the overall energy consumption without affecting safety. We are proposing a two-level control strategy based on qualitative processing. The lower level Zone Lighting Coordination Unit adjusts the lighting intensity of each lamp post through fuzzy logic. The parameters of the fuzzy controller are set by the upper level Lighting Coordination Unit, which uses a knowledge based mechanism. A case study illustrates the two-level control concept.