Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks for Lighting Energy ...

Chapter 7
Wireless-Enabled Lighting Component Design
and Integration
7.1 Overview
In order to implement the research system, prototypes of the hardware
components including the mote photosensors and the mote-based ballast actuation
modules were designed and built. A sensor board that integrates with the commercially
available wireless mote platform was designed to serve as wireless photosensor for light
sensing purposes. An actuation module incorporating the mote platform was developed
for enabling the wireless capability of the luminaires. This wireless actuation module
interfaced with the dimmable ballast to dim the electric lights or toggle the lights on/off
wirelessly.
The mote photosensors and wireless ballast actuation modules along with the
algorithms described in the preceding chapters were implemented in rooms with
different scales, including a prototyping luminaire structure, a small private office, and
a small shared-space office. The implementations will be discussed in the subsequent
chapters.
7.2 Mote Photosensor Design
The design of the wireless photosensors involved photosensitive element
selection and auxiliary circuit design. Since the photosensors are meant for estimating
the light that the occupants perceive, the photosensitive element must have a similar
response to that of human eyes throughout the span of the light spectrum. The
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