This project started – like many others – at the coffee machine. Former colleague, Jakob Andersen, was going to do quite a few manual measurements on several stretches of street light. Henrik C. Pedersen came up with the idea of placing a measurement system at the roof of a car and then acquire light data while driving under the lamps. Three years after spin-off company Global Lighting Standard was borne.
PROBLEM
In 2015 DTU Fotonik founded the Danish Outdoor Lighting Lab (DOLL), in which new street lamps could be tested. However, at that time street lights were tested manually using a hand held luxmeter that had to be moved around to 50 locations between each pair of lamps. This was very time consuming and very often measurements were disturbed by traffic.
SOLUTION
The solution comprises a metal bar placed on top of a car, in which the bar is equipped with an array of light sensors, two up-pointing cameras placed at each end of the bar, and an accurate GPS unit placed in the car. While driving under a street lamp, it’s position with respect to the car is calculated using the two cameras (triangulation). The light sensors’ measurements can then be converted to “ground level” light values.
