An Implementation of a Lighting System based on Context-Awareness and using Ontology

Background/Objectives: Recently, researches on system lightings that sense occupants' motions and environmental characteristics within a building by means of smart sensors and that adjust luminous environment accordingly are in progress. Methods/Statistical Analysis: To adjust the lighting environment dynamically according to the occupant's surrounding environment, context awareness technology for appropriate expression and analysis of context information is necessary. Ontology-based models are appropriate to represent concepts and interactions readily and to clarify various and uncertain context data sets. This study suggests a lighting system based on context-awareness using ontology that infers the current situation of the user and creates appropriate lighting environments accordingly. Findings: As a result of designing a lighting control scenario and applying the proposed system to "smart homes," it turned out that the created lighting environments were appropriate for 16 different situations defined in consideration of the user locations and activities. In addition, the system infers the situations 100% accurately by automatically renewing the ontology structure and inference rules. The developed system is applicable to various types of spaces including residential space, office space, school, and hospital. Application/Improvements: Because it is easy to expand or reuse the system, the convenience of management and maintenance is one major advantage.