Street furniture and technology: how the Internet of Things is transforming our public spaces
The Internet of Things (IoT) is teaming up with street furniture to build the Smart City of tomorrow in places like Augusta, GA. These smart cities can be managed more efficiently by collecting and interpreting data in real time, including for waste management purposes. What are the new elements of innovative street furniture that will transform our public spaces?
IoT applied to street furniture: how does it work
Let’s take a moment to look at how IoT works before exploring the possibilities of these technologies in terms of street furniture, in Georgia and other states across the nation.
IoT: definition and common applications
Generally speaking, the Internet of Things, abbreviated “IoT” for “Internet of Things”, refers to all everyday elements capable of communicating and processing data.
The data is collected using integrated sensors. Depending on the needs, these sensors can, for example, measure the ambient temperature, brightness or the presence of users. Home automation, which allows you to control home equipment, relies on IoT connected objects to close shutters at night or increase the heating temperature when the home is occupied.
The areas of application are very broad. IoT is found in the health sector, in junk disposal and sorting, in agriculture, and in connected vehicles. Everywhere, IoT allows data to be collected and analyzed in order to trigger specific actions or produce useful information for users.
IoT at the service of innovative street furniture
Connected street furniture is an IoT object at the service of the smart city. It allows strategic data to be collected at the heart of the urban space: on roads, in car parks, in squares, in parks and gardens, in garbage bins, in public transport, etc. All this information is a valuable aid to decision-making for communities. The precision and immediacy of the data collected using this technology allows them to better manage the various services made available to citizens.
Connected objects are also intelligent means of communicating with users. Display panels provide information on air quality, and can sometimes include connectivity solutions (phone charging, Wi-Fi hotspots, etc.). With touchscreens, users can also interact with the connected object to find their way around the city or obtain information about their environment.
Examples of innovative street furniture integrating IoT
Here are some examples that illustrate the advantages of innovative and connected street furniture for users and communities.
Smart benches
Public benches can meet different challenges and ambitions of urban space by playing on shapes, dimensions, materials and colors. Architecture is teaming up with new technologies to offer new-generation benches capable of recharging users’ phones and offering an internet connection accessible to all.
For its part, the community has complete data on the use of its benches: number of seated users, number of connected users and their consumption, etc. This allows it to better assess the relevance of an installation by comparing its data with that of other connected benches. These solutions are most often powered by solar energy to gain autonomy and better control the city’s consumption.
Connected trash cans
The connected trash can also provides a service to users by helping to maintain the cleanliness of public spaces and reducing the concentration of pests. When trash cans are undersized or poorly managed, overflows damage the city’s image and risk attracting rodents.
Thanks to filling sensors, communities can know at any time the filling rate of trash cans installed in different sectors. Some waste bins also include a smart compacting station, which gives them a much larger capacity. Sensors can also inform communities in the event of a disorder on one of its trash cans: open hatch, overturning, low battery, etc.
Smart panels
Smart panels are designed to produce useful information for users. They are installed in strategic locations such as tourist sites and near historical monuments, but also near busy places, in train stations or at bus stops.
Connected toilets thus offer a dynamic display with useful information for public transport users. From an environmental point of view, digital signage is also a way for the city to limit paper printouts.
IoT ambitions for public toilets
Automatic public toilets have made it possible to raise the standards of cleanliness and hygiene in public spaces. These self-cleaning cabins offer each user a healthy and easy-to-use space.
With smart toilets, sensors can run water and soap, and trigger the air blowing for washing and drying hands. All without having to touch the surfaces. Connected toilets for the city of tomorrow are particularly expected for the anticipation of maintenance needs. In different areas, IoT supports the predictive maintenance of equipment. The integrated sensors make it possible to judge the wear rate of the various components of an installation.
The community can thus plan maintenance and verification needs to avoid the breakdown and decommissioning of its equipment.
IoT: response to the new needs of cities in urban areas
Outdoor urban furniture alone can address a wide range of urban issues for cleanliness, accessibility, security, or even social ties. However, there is a limit to what design and innovation can do through these urban planning solutions. IoT applied to these elements makes it possible to move from innovative urban furniture, architecturally speaking, to connected, even intelligent, furniture capable of analysis and prediction.
Innovative architecture thus joins new technologies to provide coherent spaces, easy to use and manage. Connected furniture meets the new needs of cities, including with respect to sustainability, but also presents new challenges. The protection of data security, monitoring against cyberattacks or the interoperability of the different connected parts of urban furniture are some examples.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is teaming up with street furniture to build the Smart City of tomorrow in places like Augusta, GA. These smart cities can be managed more efficiently by collecting and interpreting data in real time, including for waste management purposes. What are the new elements of innovative street furniture that will…