Modular Light Path
A small group of students from Friesland College and I were invited to participate in the Light Challenge 2022 on the Floriade Expo in Almere, the Netherlands. For this project, teams of students all over the Netherlands had to design a light experience that brings people and nature in harmony.
For this project our team developed a modular light path consisting of tiles that produce energy on its own and light up independently. I will explain how it works and why we made certain decisions.
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Process
Module
First prototype
Presentation Floriade
After finishing our prototype and presenting it during an online pitch, we took the prototype to the finale of Light Challenge in Almere. During the Floriade Expo 2022, which has sustainability in its centre-point, we presented our prototype to the city of Almere, the other students and the judges of Light Challenge.
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Our prototype attracted all sorts of people and got tested out by them aswell. We received a lot of positive comments and feedback on our work so we made something to be proud of.
Spaces where animals live within a city such as parks, are often disturbed by the illumination people put down on the streets. This is because of certain colours and shades of light and the duration they are exposed to this light. So we want to use light that is less harmful to the wildlife in the area and cut down on the duration the light is on.
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Majority of animals within parks react the best on amber-coloured light; that's why we chose to implement LED-strip in this colours.
Other animal groups are disturbed by other colours, so the light colour the modules produce has to be changed depending on where it is placed.
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The other problem with current street illumination is the duration the light is on. During nighttime the number of people walking in parks in significantly lower than during the day; however this doesn't count for animals. So why should the light that helps humans, but disturbs animals be turned on during the whole night?
It shouldn't, but the solution is why we came up with this modular light path in the first place.
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The idea is that once you step on one of the tiles, a pressure sensor within gives a signal to the tile to light up its LED-strips. Once you step off of a tile the sensor won't register any pressure anymore and the LED-strips will fade out. The threshold for the tile to light up has been programmed to be of a small child, so animals who accidentally walk over one don't get startled.
This way the light will follow you where you are and the path will only light up once humans are present.
By turning a normal path through a park, into a light sensation, people will be attracted by it and give more life to parks in a sustainable way.
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Modular Light Path in Almere