Actility > Case Studies > Smart City Transformation through IoT: A Comprehensive Case Study

Smart City Transformation through IoT: A Comprehensive Case Study

Technology Category

Other - Battery
Sensors - GPS

Applicable Industries

Cities & Municipalities
Recycling & Waste Management

Applicable Functions

Maintenance
Quality Assurance

Use Cases

Smart City Operations
Smart Parking

Services

System Integration
Testing & Certification

The Customer

LoRaWAN™ sensors

About The Customer

The customer in this case study is any city or municipality that is looking to transform into a smart city. These cities are facing challenges such as aging infrastructure, increasing air pollution, traffic congestion, rising energy prices, and scarcity of natural resources. They are looking for innovative solutions to manage these challenges more efficiently and sustainably. The cities are also looking to improve the quality of life for their citizens by providing better services such as efficient waste management, convenient parking, intelligent street lighting, environmental monitoring, and enhanced public safety and urban security.

The Challenge

Many cities are grappling with issues such as aging infrastructure, increasing air pollution, traffic congestion, rising energy prices, and scarcity of natural resources. The traditional methods of managing these challenges are proving to be inefficient and unsustainable. For instance, waste management companies have been operating with limited innovation in operational efficiency. Trash containers often fill up too soon, and there is no real-time information on waste bins filling level. Similarly, city parking management systems are under pressure due to high and unstable demand from users. The challenge is to fully exploit all available spaces and connect them with IoT to monitor and optimize the occupancy of parking spaces. Additionally, most cities lack real-time monitoring of street light conditions, leading to energy inefficiency and higher operating costs. Lastly, cities face environmental challenges such as air pollution, noise pollution, water safety issues, inefficient irrigation, and flood risks.

The Solution

Actility provides a unique LPWAN platform for cities, using IoT to enable new services. For waste management, low-power connected ultrasonic sensors are placed in the bins, which measure the level of waste and notify the waste management company when the container needs to be emptied. For parking management, LoRa-enabled parking sensors are deployed throughout urban areas, enabling parking operators to capture and analyze occupancy data in real-time. For street lighting, Actility provides an IoT connectivity platform for cities to drastically reduce their electricity costs, using connected lamps equipped with LoRaWAN™ sensors to adapt the lighting according to real-time traffic. For environmental challenges, IoT sensors monitor a range of environmental factors such as air quality, soil humidity, water quality, flood detection and more. Lastly, for public safety and urban security, Actility provides a unified IoT connectivity platform for smart and safe city use cases. Battery-operated sensors are installed to detect manhole related incidents, and people and assets can be equipped with trackers.

Operational Impact

The implementation of IoT solutions has led to significant operational improvements in the cities. The connected dumpsters have allowed sanitation specialists to work more efficiently, saving time and money while ensuring a clean environment. The smart parking solution has enhanced usage and traffic flow, allowing drivers to easily find free parking spots, avoid congestion and reduce fuel consumption and pollution. The intelligent lighting solution has made the city safer without compromising the safety of streets for pedestrians and drivers. The environmental IoT sensors have helped to track the evolution of the environment in the city remotely and in real-time, enabling the cities to forecast and take actions to reduce air, water, and noise pollution and prevent flooding. Lastly, the IoT solutions for public safety and urban security have improved street safety and provided the data for situational awareness and visibility, enabling city operation services and law enforcement to effectively and proactively respond to any event, reduce the number of offenses and ensure public safety.

Quantitative Benefit

Cut unnecessary costs up to 50% by optimizing refuse collection routes in real-time
Generate incremental revenues by enhancing usage and traffic flow of parking spaces
Drastically reduce electricity costs by using connected lamps for street lighting