UPDATE NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY
CHANGE FOR THE BETTER Engineers develop new technologies for intelligent cities WRITING BY >< KERRY BENNETT
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t Northern Arizona University, engineers are developing new technologies to meet the needs of the intelligent cities of the future using mobile apps and cloud-based computing backed by new sensing technologies, machine learning algorithms and tools for data analytics. Transportation systems
Chun-Hsing Ho, an NAU civil engineer and associate professor, develops technologies to improve intelligent transportation systems: “instrumented bicycle” sensing technology to monitor road conditions and vehicle vibration sensors to monitor pavement roughness. As cycling becomes increasingly popular, cities worldwide are expanding their urban cycling networks. For municipal authorities, properly maintaining bike trails is a growing concern. Ho is developing instrumented bicycles employing vibration sensor technology consisting of geospatial and remote sensors, a mobile application and a cloud-based platform. “The cycling community could use these bicycles as tools to assess road/bike trail conditions and share real-time information with local authorities,” says Ho. As a road becomes rougher, vehicles vibrate more, causing delays, accidents, noise pollution and faster deterioration of the road’s surface. Ho is developing a cost-effective, vehicle-based vibration sensor that can predict asphalt roughness and identify critical cracking locations for better, faster pavement maintenance. Energy systems
Truong Nghiem, an NAU control engineer and assistant professor, designs tools for smart energy systems such as smart buildings and smart grids. In his Intelligent Control Systems lab, Nghiem and his team are developing
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advanced methods and algorithms for intelligent and high-performance control systems that are at the core of many complex and critical energy and infrastructure systems. Enabled by recent advances in computing and machine learning, and utilizing rich data from Internet of Things systems, Nghiem’s smart control algorithms learn from data to optimize the real-time operation of energy and infrastructure systems to achieve energy efficiency, energy security and safety. “Distributed data-driven intelligence in smart control algorithms will be the backbone of future smart cities,” says Nghiem. Flood information system
As flooding becomes more prevalent and more severe, cities face an increasing risk of flood damage. Ben Ruddell, an NAU civil engineer and associate professor, is co-leading a project with Eck Doerry, an NAU software engineer and professor, to pilot a new flood information system for cities that connects first responders, citizens and infrastructure professionals in nearreal time with the exact flood information for the locations where they need it most. Along with collaborators at Arizona State University, The University of Arizona, University at Buffalo and Michigan Technological University, Ruddell will partner with local, federal and academic stakeholders to identify the best data sources for a smart and connected urban community information system to minimize flood risk. “We call this system the Integrated Flood Stage Observation Network,” says Ruddell. The system is engineered so that it can eventually be scaled up to every city in the U.S.” KERRY BENNETT is Northern Arizona University’s research
communications officer. Connect at nau.edu.