Innovation for smart cities

With an emphasis on Sustainability, this eighth axis is made up of the triad connectivity, sensing and education. As for the connectivity part, the researchers study communication networks that use traffic and data volume in smart cities. Sensing, in turn, encompasses radars that can be carried by drones for non-invasive remote monitoring of rural and urban areas. Finally, the education part focuses on training the most vulnerable communities from a socioeconomic point of view, addressing issues around photovoltaic solar energy. One of these dialogues was established with the Satélite Íris region, in Campinas, through the ‘Gente Nova’ Project (Progen), which seeks to train residents in installing and maintaining photovoltaic systems, as well as fomenting the development of low-cost solutions to improve internet access.

Another highlight brought by the group of researchers is surveillance in areas of hydroelectric plants and transmission lines. As a result, in addition to environmental monitoring in the vicinity of the São Paulo hydroelectric plants, it is possible to analyze the integrity of transmission lines or even transformers, observing abnormal operations. Within the scope of the Centro Paulista de Estudos da Transição Energética (CPTEn), the articulation between the three lines of research in this axis drives the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially those dealing with quality education (SDG 4), clean energy and affordable (SDG 7), decent work and economic growth (SDG 8), industry, innovation and infrastructure (SDG 9), sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11), and life on earth (SDG 15).