Argentina. A group of researchers from the Faculty of Informatics of the National University of La Plata developed a technology that allows reducing energy consumption in buildings.
The innovation consists of the creation of a smart dashboard that monitors and controls the on and off of different devices to reduce energy consumption in buildings. The invention could avoid the unnecessary expenditure of electricity in the classrooms of the house of studies platense.
The development won the "YPF Foundation Award. Researchers Profile". The distinction was part of the Innovar 2019 call, organized by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Technology of the Nation, which seeks to promote innovative culture in the different productive areas of our country.
Laura De Giusti, director of the project, explained that a prototype of a smart board was made, which includes the hardware and software to measure and control the turning on and off of electronic devices in an experimental classroom. The Intelligent Unit (UI) has a processing board to allow its programming and adaptation to different environments, allowing to select decision criteria, such as schedules and sensors in Real Time that detect the presence of people in the classroom.
The design of the prototype consists of a system that combines electronics: sensors, timers and power switches, with software that includes decision-making criteria to reduce consumption. Development is a simple unit that can be added in any space. The initiative, developed in the LIDI, arises from the continuous increase in the use and incorporation of electrical devices into daily life causing excessive energy consumption (EC) that is often associated with their misuse. The idea of LIDI seeks to automatically optimize the energy consumption of everyday devices.
De Giusti explained that "the decision criteria of on/on/off/delayed and analysis of the data to see its impact on consumption constitute the core of the software that is immersed in the dashboard." The project is based on the impact of the cost of energy in university environments and in particular in academic units such as the Faculty of Informatics, which has more than 400 active processors at peak times of activity, in addition to about 1800 students studying the subjects.
This problem is similar in other areas of the UNLP. In some areas, consumption is increased by the characteristics of the activity carried out in the Research and Development Units of the Faculties.
On the other hand, all electro-intensive companies, particularly those in the computer industry, pointed to similar problems. In the particular case of the It La Plata Pole, which brings together a group of more than 60 companies in the Software and Computer Services sector, he showed his interest in the project. The development of the UNLP has a potential market and its cost will be amortized with energy savings. It is important to note that the same companies interested in the project are potential smart board manufacturers.
The award corresponds to a sum of 100 thousand pesos for the project "Distributed intelligent system for electricity consumption", developed by the Institute for Research in Informatics (LIDI), dependent on the Faculty of Informatics of the UNLP – CIC. In addition to being used in different spaces of the University such as classrooms and laboratories, it could also be implemented in areas of importance for the development of the country, such as industries linked to the technology sector.
Source: Universidad Nacional de la Plata.
