International Journal of Sensor and Its Applications for Control Systems

Vol.4, No.2 (2016), pp.1-8

http://dx.doi.org/10.14257/ijsacs.2016.4.2.01

IoT and Zigbee based Street Light Monitoring System with

LabVIEW

Anita Gehlot1, Rajesh Singh2, Raj Gaurav Mishra3, Adesh Kumar4

and Sushabhan Choudhury5
1,2,3,4,5
University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun, India
1
anita@ddn.upes.ac.in

Abstract
A Street light is a source of light on the edge of a road which turns on at night for the
convenience of people. Major advantages of street lighting includes: prevention of
accidents and increase in safety. Paper presents a system for monitoring the working of
street lights at a server with ‘N’ number of local controller unit. The monitoring is done
with the help of graphical user interface designed with LabVIEW. The communication
media between street light and local controller unit is Zigbee and for covering large
distance to main server IoT is used. The system is an effective method for monitoring a
large area lightning system from remote area without visiting the location.

Keywords: IoT, Zigbee, Street light

1. Introduction
The Internet of Things (IoT) technology establishes a communication between all
things and the Internet through sensing devices. The sensing devices includes Radio
Frequency Identification Devices, infrared sensors, GPS etc. Internet-of-things (IoT)
based smart home system, its design and system’s architecture utilizing embedded system,
3G, and ZIGBEE technologies is presented in [1]. Smart homes service applying IoT
concepts along with RFID technologies for ubiquitous applications such as such as
washing, cooking, elderly health care, etc. is discussed in [2]. A design of a smart home
system based on IoT, its service components, software architecture and main modules are
proposed in [3]. A cloud centric vision (using Aneka) of ubiquitous sensing using IoT and
Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) technologies are proposed in [4]. This cloud
implementation was done using Aneka based on private and public clouds interactions. A
framework for home automation, mobility and interconnection using cloud-based smart
home, its features and architecture is discussed in [5]. Possible applications of IoT, Smart
Grid and WiFi-based WSN in smart agriculture and intelligent environment protection are
discussed in [6]. The combination of the IoT near-field communications along with real-
time localization and embedded sensors are used in a way to create activity-aware, policy-
aware and process-aware smart homes in [7]. The characteristic features, advantages and
disadvantages of smart home systems are analyzed in [8]. A smart home Browse/Server
based module, its system architecture, implementation approach and hardware design is
discussed in [8]. Several prototypes using principles that connect sensor nodes (for
environmental applications), energy monitoring systems, RFID-tags and internet for the
application of smart homes are presented in [9]. Security issues and all other related
challenges in IoT based smart homes are presented. Also a comparison of security related
issues existing in IoT and traditional networks are discussed in [10]. Investigation of the
concept and model of IoT based sensing as a service in technological, social and
economical perspectives are presented. Major open challenges and related issues are also
discussed in [11]. Internet of Things, its paradigm and related enabling technologies are

ISSN: 2287-8467 IJSACS

Copyright ⓒ 2016 SERSC
International Journal of Sensor and Its Applications for Control Systems
Vol. 4, No. 2 (2016)

reviewed in details in [12]. A system designed and developed using IoT for people with
disabilities is presented in [13]. Its architecture, different application scenarios are
presented illustrate the system’s interaction along with its limitations is presented in [13].
An Arduino and RFID based system is developed for old and disabled persons for
operating the door in their house, is presented in [14]. An intelligent remote control for
heating system capable in maintaining room temperature to a pre-defined value using PID
and other optimizing algorithms is presented in [15].

2. System Description
The proposed system is divided into three sections- street light section, local controller
unit and main server as shown in Figure 1. The street light section comprises of all the
light lamps in an area with current sensors and RF module. ‘N’ street lights of this section
communicates with local controller unit wirelessly through RF module (Zigbee). ‘N’ local
controller unit communicates with main server through IoT due to its global coverage
area. A GUI is designed at main server with the help of LabVIEW.

Figure 1. System Block Diagram

Street light section (Sensor node):

This section includes a set of street lights in a locality and the monitoring of all the
lights is on the bases of voltage and current consumption of whole section, as when all the
lights are working properly or when one or more lights are at default. As shown in fig.1

2 Copyright ⓒ 2016 SERSC

 International Journal of Sensor and Its Applications for Control Systems
Vol. 4, No. 2 (2016)

street lights of a local area sends information to the local control room wirelessly through
Zigbee which is license free module and can be used at remote areas where GSM signals
are not available.
In our proposed system a microcontroller based control board interfaced with current
sensor and RF module (Zigbee) and battery is used at each street light.

Local controller unit:

This section comprises of Zigbee to receive the information from multiple street light
sections and further communicates with main server through IoT.
This section comprises of control board with same type of RF module used in street
light section, which will collect the data from different nodes(street light sections), and
then communicates to main server through internet.

Main server (master control unit):

As. Shown in Figure 2 local control unit is connected to main server through internet
and monitoring of ‘N’ local controller units can be done at centralized platform. Graphical
User Interface is designed to monitor the collected data from all local control units. It will
reduce the maintenance charges and time consumption as no requirement will be there to
send the individual (man) to detect the faulty street light.

Figure 2. Block Diagram for Local Controller and Main Server

Copyright ⓒ 2016 SERSC 3

International Journal of Sensor and Its Applications for Control Systems
Vol. 4, No. 2 (2016)

ESP8266
For IoT application in the proposed system ESP8266 is used. This Wi-Fi module is
based on ESP8266 Integrated Chip from Espressif, which provides a Wi-Fi solution. This
low cost Wi-Fi module can be used in various IoT based applications. This board
operates on 3.3V (and application of 5V may damage the module. Level shifter like
LD1117V33C is required to use this module with 5V devices/boards).

Graphical user interface

LabView is used to create GUI for monitoring the whole system at main server. It
basically provides a graphical output. It consists of the functional blocks known as the
Virtual Instruments (VIs). This programming language does not require skilled labor. It
comprises basically of various serial, Ethernet and USB interfaces.
The Figure 3 shows the front panel for one local controller unit with graphical outputs.
The front panel consists of the start button, stop button, the window displays the values of
various parameters. By analysing the output waveforms fault can be detected
immediately. Figure 4 shows the back panel of LabVIEW with graphical programming.
Figure 5 shows the front panel for ‘N’ local controller unit with graphical outputs.

Figure 3. Front Panel for One Local Controller Unit GUI

4 Copyright ⓒ 2016 SERSC

 International Journal of Sensor and Its Applications for Control Systems
Vol. 4, No. 2 (2016)

Figure 4. Back Panel for the Designed GUI

Figure 5. Front Panel for Monitoring ‘N’ Local Controller Unit GUI with First
Unit at Fault

Copyright ⓒ 2016 SERSC 5

International Journal of Sensor and Its Applications for Control Systems
Vol. 4, No. 2 (2016)

In Figure 5 shows the GUI for the monitoring of five control units. Red color LED
shows fault at local controller unit 1 and all other units working properly.

Figure 6. Front Panel for Monitoring ‘N’ Local Controller Unit GUI with Third
Unit at Fault

In Figure 6 shows the GUI for the monitoring of five control units. Red color LED
shows fault at local controller unit 3 and all other units working properly.
When any of the units shows fault then by pressing the corresponding LED the status
of that unit can be checked and faulty street light can be identified easily.

VSPE
Virtual serial port emulator is a tool which is used to pair two COM ports. It is required
to access real time data on LabVIEW. Two COM ports are paired one to which hardware
is connected and other is for LabVIEW. When these COM ports are paired then
LabVIEW GUI shows the complete access of the data received by hardware. Fig.7 shows
the snapshot for the pairing of two COM ports.

6 Copyright ⓒ 2016 SERSC

 International Journal of Sensor and Its Applications for Control Systems
Vol. 4, No. 2 (2016)

Figure 7. COM Port Pairing with VSPE

3. Conclusion
IoT brings a new age for IT technologies with more intelligent modern stage. The
designed system is capable of monitoring the street lights of a large area at a single server
with the help of IoT and further this information can be floated on a website for more
impact and data base.
The major outcomes of the system are as follows-
 All the street light even in the remote areas of Uttarakhand state can be monitored
through the wireless network to be developed.
 The condition of the street light (whether working or faulty) cab be monitored
without visiting the location.
 Coverage area of IoT based system is worldwide and it can be monitored from
any remote location.

References
[1] K. Bing, “Design of an Internet of things-based smart home system”, Intelligent Control and
Information Processing (ICICIP), 2011 2nd International Conference on IEEE, vol. 2, (2011).
[2] M. Darianian and M. Peter Michael, “Smart home mobile RFID-based Internet-of-Things systems and
services”, 2008 International conference on advanced computer theory and engineering, IEEE, (2008).
[3] B. Li and J. Yu, “Research and application on the smart home based on component technologies and
Internet of Things”, Procedia Engineering, vol. 15, (2011), pp. 2087-2092.
[4] J. Gubbi, “Internet of Things (IoT): A vision, architectural elements, and future directions”, Future
Generation Computer Systems, vol. 29, no. 7, (2013), pp. 1645-1660.
[5] X. Ye and J. Huang, “A framework for cloud-based smart home”, Computer Science and Network
Technology (ICCSNT), 2011 International Conference on IEEE, vol. 2, (2011).
[6] L. Li, “The applications of wifi-based wireless sensor network in internet of things and smart grid”,
2011 6th IEEE Conference on Industrial Electronics and Applications. IEEE, (2011).

Copyright ⓒ 2016 SERSC 7

International Journal of Sensor and Its Applications for Control Systems
Vol. 4, No. 2 (2016)

[7] G. Kortuem, “Smart objects as building blocks for the internet of things”, IEEE Internet Computing, vol.
14, no. 1, (2010), pp. 44-51.
[8] G. Chong, L. Zhihao and Y. Yifeng, “The research and implement of smart home system based on
internet of things”, Electronics, Communications and Control (ICECC), 2011 International Conference
on. IEEE, (2011).
[9] D. Guinard, “From the internet of things to the web of things: Resource-oriented architecture and best
practices”, Architecting the Internet of Things. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, (2011), pp. 97-129.
[10] J. Qi, “Security of the internet of things: Perspectives and challenges”, Wireless Networks, vol. 20, no.
8, (2014), pp. 2481-2501.
[11] C. Perera, “Sensing as a service model for smart cities supported by internet of things”, Transactions on
Emerging Telecommunications Technologies, vol. 25, no. 1, (2014), pp. 81-93.
[12] L. Atzori, I. Antonio and G. Morabito, “The internet of things: A survey”, Computer networks, vol. 54,
no. 15, (2010), pp. 2787-2805.
[13] M. Carmen Domingo, “An overview of the Internet of Things for people with disabilities”, Journal of
Network and Computer Applications, vol. 35, no. 2, (2012), pp. 584-596.
[14] A. Agarwal, “Smart Door Lock System for Elderly, Handicapped People Living Alone”, International
Journal of Smart Home, vol. 10, no. 6, (2016), pp. 155-162.
[15] G. S. Tomar, R. Pratap Kushwah and V. Singh Kushwah, “Tag Antenna Analysis for RFID”, IEEE
Internl Conference I2MTC 2009, (2009) May, pp. 7-9.
[16] R. Singh, “Optimization and Implementation of Intelligent RF Remote Controlled Heater System”,
International Journal of Control and Automation, vol. 8, no. 5, (2015), pp. 397-406.

8 Copyright ⓒ 2016 SERSC