Smart Campus – Updates on IoT Projects
C.S. WONG, HEAD OF NETWORK SYSTEMS
To support the development of the HKUST campus into a Sustainable Smart Campus, ITSC started the implementation of an Internet-of-Things (IoT) network infrastructure based on the LoRaWAN (Low-power, Long-range Wide Area Network) technology since Q4 2018. The LoRaWAN network enables an open communication infrastructure for collecting IoT data from low-powered smart sensors installed across the campus. The collected sensor data is then stored in a centralized Open Data Platform based on the open-source "Elastic Stack", accessible by the University community for operational or educational purposes in the spirit of developing the campus into a sustainable living lab.
In this summer, the LoRaWAN network coverage has been extended to the entire campus by completing the installation of 40 indoor and 7 outdoor gateways spreading over the campus buildings. Outdoor gateways are installed on roof tops and their locations are illustrated in the following diagram:
Leveraging on the LoRaWAN infrastructure, ITSC is collaborating with Facilities Management Office on the following IoT projects:
- Deploy CO2, humidity and temperature sensors in Lee Shau Kee Business Building and Library Building. The data collected by the sensors could provide helpful information about the indoor air quality of the specific areas;
- Use LoRaWAN network to collect electricity consumption data of power meters installed across campus buildings. The data could be used for building electricity consumption analysis and future energy saving verification.
In order to handle and analyze sensor data effectively, an IoT Dashboard is developed to facilitate the monitoring and visualization of real-time and historical sensor data (i.e. temperature and humidity) in different zones of the campus. Please contact us for more information.