Implementation and integration of a smart app in a smart building for personal visual comfort

Abstract

Nowadays, smart LED lighting systems are able to provide a better visual comfort and working environment at a reduced energy consumption compared to existing lighting systems. These smart lighting systems employ smart application and communication technologies to amend the light intensities utilizing smart sensors. However, the smart lighting systems are designed for energy-efficiency; occupant's visual comfort is the main goal and must not be compromised. This paper presents the implementation of a smart LED lighting system and Smart Mobile Application for better visual comfort. The proposed lighting system uses ZigBee and Wi-Fi communication protocols to control the lights of commercial/residential buildings according to daylight, occupancy or as per the requirements of the inhabitants of the building. With the help of Smart Android Application, Lighting system can be operated in three different modes: Manual, Automatic, and Hybrid. While satisfying the visual comfort conditions of the occupants, a reduction of energy consumption by 60–70% is observed as compared to the existing lighting system. The paper also presents detailed test-bed and description of message flow from Smart Application to Hardware front-end. A small survey based results show the benefits of smart mobile application over a web application.