AIDI turns creativity on for a smarter and greener lighting
Lighting companies , innovation and capital venture experts , journalists and incubators , all together , though only virtually , awarded the winners of the “ Start Up / Light Up ” competition , promoted and organised by AIDI in collaboration with Talent Garden . The contest was launched last year by the Association , an occasion to bring out the most innovative ideas in the field of smart lighting solutions . The contest was divided into three thematic sections : “ Smart lighting for the city of the future ”; “ Smart lighting for environmental sustainability and social enterprise ”; “ Smart Home , Smart Building ”.
“ Big data , artificial intelligence , and Internet of Things ( IoT ) are the levers for managing traffic , waste , lighting , and the environment in an innovative way . All the award-winning projects ,” explains Gian Paolo Roscio , President of AIDI , “ are innovative and a good expression of the increasingly important role of light in enhancing the territory and the environment , both domestic and social , and in making them more liveable . Nowadays , in fact , lighting is the protagonist of an unprecedented technological and cultural revolution , and we , as a cultural association , must be able to grasp the changes linked to innovation and to the use of new technologies .” The winners of the contest are all young , with different backgrounds but with the same desire to experiment , with a keen eye for the environment and an increasingly smarter and greener vision of lighting .
Guapa di Spongedsign , lampada a forma di avocado che , grazie al suo sistema idroponico , è in grado di divenire un germogliatore indoor / Guapa by Spongedsign , an avocado-shaped lamp that can become an indoor sprouter , thanks to its hydroponic system
Guapa is an avocado-shaped lamp that can become an indoor sprouter , thanks to its hydroponic system . A plant is placed inside , and the lamp , using technological control systems to monitor its state of health , allows it to live and grow . As far as lighting is concerned , inside the object there is an RGB LED system with a light spectrum between 4,000 K and 6,500 K ; through a practical automated hydroponic cultivation system it drastically reduces water consumption , as well as detecting data relating to the environment in which it is located . Therefore , Guapa is not only a smart piece of furniture interconnected with IoT devices capable of taking care of a plant , but much more . In fact , behind an ordinary avocado , a fruit now widely available on the shelves of our supermarkets , there is a story that calls for reflection . Denise Franzè , architect and designer , creator of the project and co-founder of the start-up Spongedsign , explains the reasons behind the choice . “ Avocado cultivation has a devastating environmental impact on South American territories , because of its incredible water consumption ( almost 300 litres of water are needed to cultivate 3 avocados ). Today , developments in technology allow everyone to make a small contribution , for example by reducing water and energy consumption in an intelligent way . Thus , Guapa is our vision of how the world can improve when knowledge , awareness , sensitivity , and sustainability come together so that everyone can do their part .” Lighting from renewable sources , both for public and private use , is the challenge posed by the Creon project . Developed by Federico Merz , a graduate in Biotechnology from the University of Trento , the project applies to lighting an innovative technology that produces electricity by means of the metabolism of bacteria living in the soil .
Creon has developed a clean , renewable energy production system based on microbiological fuel cell technology ( MFCs ), which can generate electricity using the microorganisms that live in our gardens , vegetable plots , public parks , or flowerbeds on a street . Federico Merz explains that “ an MFC is essentially made up of two electrodes , one placed on the surface of the ground and the other underground . The latter has the task of collecting the energy produced by bacteria that , throughout their life cycle , feed on the organic molecules found in the environment . At a biochemical level , these molecules are broken down into increasingly smaller ones , which results in the release of energy in the form of electrons , some of which are dispersed into the environment . It is these very electrons that the MFCs set in motion in a circuit , generating a direct electrical current without producing any waste ( gases or pollutants ). It is therefore a clean and sustainable method , and the first system to use a biological source to produce electricity .” For Simone Massinelli , lighting designer and creator of Polytube , the competition was the opportunity to develop his idea of the city of the future . “ For some time I had been thinking about the emotional aspects of light and how it could affect people ’ s well-being whilst also being useful for marketing purposes . So , when I heard about the ‘ Start Up / Light Up ’ competition I tried to think outside the box , in order to create something new , never seen before ; something that is worthy of participating in what we call the future .” Polytube is a smart lighting system that helps manage the flow of people in the increasingly crowded and chaotic urban environment . Made up of sections of partially flexible light tubes supported by poles , under normal operating conditions it emits a soft light that adapts in terms of light intensity according to the presence or absence of passers-by . In addition to the ordinary basic illumination , a network and a central unit activate different sections of tubes according to a colour system , in order to indicate whether they are to be followed or not ( red = to be avoided , yellow / orange = medium congestion , green = alternative route ), providing additional overhead displays with route indications or useful information for passers-by . For Massimo Targetti , founding partner of the start-up company SIDEis , “ the roads of the future will probably be networks with self-driving cars , and this means that a lighting system that is functional for this new type of use must be designed . And SIDEis , with our integrated lighting , delineation and communication system , is fully prepared for this challenge .” A system that revolutionises the approach to street lighting , moving the light point from the top to the side of the road . Installed at a height of about 1 metre , it is able to illuminate and highlight any type of road with a grazing light projection that is 30 times wider than a normal road photometry . SIDEis is also a smart support , because it can also become a neural communication network for people and vehicles . The award winners were selected out of nine finalists by a panel of jurors representing the worlds of business , information , innovation , incubators , and capital venture : Gian Paolo Roscio , president of AIDI ; Pierangelo Soldavini
16 LUCE 335 / AIDI