International Conference Smart Grid and Smart Cities 

About: International Conference Smart Grid and Smart Cities is an academic conference. The conference publishes majorly in the area(s): Smart grid & Renewable energy. Over the lifetime, 214 publications have been published by the conference receiving 817 citations.

Smart governance: A key factor for smart cities implementation

Abstract: Smart Governance is one dimension of Smart Cities, it relies on good governance such as open (i.e. transparent), accountable, collaborative (i.e. involving all stakeholders) and participatory (i.e. citizens' participation) principles and on Electronic Government (e-Government). This paper tries to answer the question — “What governance models are being implemented in smart cities?”. To answer this question, six interviews were conducted with people involved in Smart Cities initiatives from Brazil, Singapore, Colombia, Portugal, and Uruguay. The empirical analysis of the interviews shows that Smart Cities and e-Government present a similar evolutionary trajectory, both converging to smart governance. The paper concludes that all the initiatives underlie heavily in technologies and follow the same sort of smart governance model, a mix of collaborative, open and participatory governance. We claim that advanced technologies, innovation and smart governance are essential prerequisites for developing smart, creative, innovative and sustainable cities.

Machine learning based prediction of thermal comfort in buildings of equatorial Singapore

Abstract: Majority of energy consumption in Singapore buildings is due to air-conditioning, because of its hot and humid weather. Besides attaining a healthy indoor environment, a prior knowledge about the occupant's thermal comfort can be beneficial in reducing energy consumption, as it can save energy which is otherwise spent in extra cooling. This paper proposes a data-driven approach to predict individual thermal comfort level (‘cool-discomfort’, ‘comfort’, ‘warm-discomfort’) using environmental and human factors as input. Six types of classifiers have been implemented-Support Vector Machine (SVM), Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Logistic Regression (LR), Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA), K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), and Classification Trees (CT), on a publicly available database of 817 occupants for air-conditioned and free-running buildings separately. Results show that our approach achieves prediction accuracies of 73.14–81.2%, outperforming the traditional Fanger's PMV (Predicted Mean Vote) model, which has accuracies of only 41.68–65.5%. Age, gender, and outdoor effective temperature, which are not included in the PMV model, are found to be important factors for thermal comfort. The proposed approach also outperforms modified PMV models-the extended PMV model and the adaptive PMV model which attain accuracies of 61.75% and 35.51% respectively.

Traffic event detection framework using social media

Abstract: Traffic incidents are one of the leading causes of non-recurrent traffic congestions. By detecting these incidents on time, traffic management agencies can activate strategies to ease congestion and travelers can plan their trip by taking into consideration these factors. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in Twitter because of the real-time nature of its data. Twitter has been used as a way of predicting revenues, accidents, natural disasters, and traffic. This paper proposes a framework for the real-time detection of traffic events using Twitter data. The methodology consists of a text classification algorithm to identify traffic related tweets. These traffic messages are then geolocated and further classified into positive, negative, or neutral class using sentiment analysis. In addition, stress and relaxation strength detection is performed, with the purpose of further analyzing user emotions within the tweet. Future work will be carried out to implement the proposed framework in the West Midlands area, United Kingdom.

Research on water meter reading system based on LoRa communication

Abstract: IoT water meter and remote meter reading technology has become an important part of energy measurement. In order to realize low power consumption and remote reading of water meters, this paper proposes a wireless meter reading system by using both the multilevel relay and the concentrator based on LoRa communication. In order to meet the meter's ultra-low power need, the ST's low power consumption microcontroller (STM8l151G) has been selected for controlling SX1278 and flow measurement. The water meter works in an average current of 50 μΑ. And the relay uses MSP430F169 ultra-low power microprocessor and SX1278. On the basis of “‘CJ / T 188-2004’ user data transmission using measurement instruments and technical conditions industry-standard protocol and Q/GDW 1376.1-2013 ‘power users information collection system communication protocol’” industry standard protocols, this paper modifies both of them to fit for the water meter reading industry and increase the address defined for multi-level relay, the concentrator and master station address, and then develops a multi-level wireless repeaters and concentrators Reading downlink protocol and a uplink protocol between the concentrator and the data center. The system has completed the design of hardware and software, and achieved the accurate measurement of the water meter data, and transmit the data to the concentrator through the multi-level relay by LoRa. Finally, the remote data transmission is carried out by the concentrator through GPRS channel. By testing, the system's meter reading distance, the quantity of the meter accessed and the reliability of data communication can meet the application requirements.

An automated solar-powered aquaponics system towards agricultural sustainability in the Sultanate of Oman

Abstract: This paper introduces an automated solar-powered aquaponics system, designed and implemented to be cost-effective and environmentally sound for local communities in Oman and other arid regions. It presents the design, construction and implementation of the following modules: 1) water recirculation system that circulates water to an aquaculture tank and hydroponic beds; 2) aquaponics control and monitoring system using Arduino microcontroller interfaced with sensors, actuators, GSM shield and NI LabVIEW that allows plants and fish to grow together in an interdependent and controlled environment; 3) solar energy conversion system that powers the whole project using the concept of renewable energy source; and, 4) cooling and heating systems that maintain the air and water temperatures to acceptable level for plant and fish growth. The analyses of experimental data taken during summer and winter time show the sustainability of the designed aquaponics system.