The first pre-commercial version of the smart pole is ready

The collaboration within the Nokia-driven LuxTurrim5G ecosystem has progressed nicely despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The extensive company consortium developing a digital backbone for the smart city has now reached an important milestone, when its key element, the 5G smart pole, has progressed from the development stage to a pre-commercial product. It is, in fact, a product family of smart poles, which can meet the various needs of cities. The modular structure allows for poles of different sizes, integration of various devices, and implementation of required digital services based on usage and the surrounding area. The ecosystem partners are currently working on finalising the collaboration model to bring the product to market.

A unique smart city pilot environment built on the Nokia campus in Espoo, which includes 19 smart poles, two smart and safe bus stops, and a total of more than 250 interconnected IoT devices, has played a key role in the development and piloting of the smart poles, digital infrastructure, and data-driven services.

Smart pole family in key role to make cities smart and sustainable

The LuxTurrim5G smart pole concept has been developed to tackle the future needs of cities faced with the challenges of sustainable development and digitalisation. It is not really about a light pole, but a whole new element to build the key infrastructure of a smart city: its digital backbone. The same pole will not only have a 5G base station integrated into it, but it will also have video cameras, radars, lidars, and sensors needed for navigation, and weather, temperature, air quality, and, for example, carbon dioxide measurements. In this way, readiness for a variety of services is being created. Intelligent lighting will also be one element, but not the main issue, as in traditional light poles.

Different usage environments require different smart poles. A key design principle for the LuxTurrim5G smart pole has been its modular structure. This allows for the smooth integration of poles of many sizes for different uses, such as for wide or narrow streets, parks, market squares, or other open spaces. Tehomet Oy and Orbis Oy have had the main responsibility for the design and manufacture of the pilot smart poles. Building, maintaining, and servicing the smart pole network offers its own set of responsibilities, which have been taken care of by Destia Oy.

“The modular design developed in the project allows for huge variations to build different assemblies according to site requirements. The design supports external devices for retrofitting, as well as the installation of new modules to meet changing needs. It will be possible to vary the aesthetic features by changing the colours or using decorative parts, laser-cut lighting, or modules with background lighting. The variety of options makes this product family a unique solution for the global market”, says Sami Huuskonen, design manager at Tehomet Oy, who will be the newly appointed product manager for smart solutions in the parent company, Valmont Industries, in the EMEA region.

The integration of several devices into a well-functioning entity has been an important development focus in the manufacture of smart poles. Orbis Oy, which has been in charge of the cabling, integration, and assembly of smart poles, has taken modularity as a challenge and as an opportunity.

“We have succeeded in implementing a compact cabling solution inside the smart pole, which enables integrated devices to be connected to the same data transmission and power supply entity. The modularity of the solution, in turn, ensures that devices can be flexibly added and replaced on the smart pole throughout its life cycle. This is a significant competitive advantage”, says Jani Linna-Aro, CEO of Orbis Oy.

Safety and situational awareness as examples of services using data

Central to the service development is the utilisation of various data flows for real needs. Smart poles, drones, and autonomous vehicles collect, for example, weather, air quality, and environmental data, location data, and images and streams from cameras. This data can be combined with other data sources to create a wide range of targeted services related to safety, full situational awareness, or low-emission traffic and logistics, to mention just a few examples.

“Safety and security is one of the most important elements dictating the development of smart cities. The solutions developed by Teleste aim to improve the safety of citizens, increase the sense of safety, and support the work of the authorities. Teleste has been one of the key players in this project as a developer of intelligent services for public safety, and our Connected Zone® concept plays an important role in the LuxTurrim5G ecosystem. We have had the pleasure of cooperating with Nokia and integrating our concept into the offering of the LuxTurrim5G ecosystem”, says Dr. Jani Väre from Teleste.

By gathering data on people and vehicles moving around the area, smart poles enable better and more personalised services, but data collection also brings legal requirements, for example that the use and processing of personal data are very carefully considered. The data obtained through cameras is, of course, the subject of special attention in this case. The LuxTurrim5G project has paid a lot of attention to data protection issues. Cooperation between companies, research institutes, and authorities has created a good basic understanding of the requirements and shared practices for the correct handling of data protection matters at different stages. This provides a solid foundation for the development of data-driven businesses and, in turn, a competitive advantage in this area.

World Expo as a gateway towards a growing business

The LuxTurrim5G ecosystem has ignited a lot of interest both in Finland and around the world. Now that the development of the modular smart pole, related elements, and several services has been completed, the consortium is aiming for more extensive pilots in real urban environments. Readiness for smart pole deliveries has been fine-tuned not only with technical development in mind, but also in the preparation of various business models. Tehomet, Orbis, and Destia are currently working on a shared model for bringing the product to the market. An important gateway to the global market is Expo 2020 Dubai (the World Expo postponed due to COVID-19), opening in October this year. At the event, the LuxTurrim5G offering and two functional smart poles will be showcased by Nokia and other companies.

“Our development work will, of course, continue. The second part of the ecosystem project will continue until the end of this year, focusing on the development of the data platform and marketplace, and piloting of new services. Smart pole development will be continued as needed in connection with pilot projects”, says project manager Pekka Wainio from Nokia Bell Labs.

In Espoo, planning in the Kera area is moving forward, and there are also new smart city plans for the Otaniemi-Keilaniemi area, which will offer new piloting opportunities for smart pole technologies. The City of Espoo, together with VTT, Aalto University, and companies, intends to build the world’s most advanced telecommunications and data infrastructure, enabling new solutions for intelligent and low-emission transport and the circular economy. The global market for smart city solutions is currently worth 400 billion euros, which is predicted to grow to 1,000 billion euros by 2025.

More info:

Juha Salmelin, Nokia, Ecosystem leader
juha.salmelin(at)nokia.com, 050 5223508

Markku Heino, Spinverse, Ecosystem coordinator
markku.heino(at)spinverse.com, 040 7191221

Pekka Wainio, Nokia Bell Labs
040 58111211

Jani Linna-Aro, Orbis Oy
040 3501866

Sami Huuskonen, Tehomet Oy
044 7465583

Background info:

www.luxturrim5g.com
LuxTurrim5G video

White paper, 25.5.2020

The LuxTurrim5G ecosystem includes the following partners:

Nokia Bell Labs, Nokia, Premix, Teleste, Vaisala, Indagon, Rumble Tools, Orbis, Tehomet, Destia, Sitowise, Caruna, A-Insinöörit (AINS Group), Link Design & Development, Vediafi, Agora Networks, Sensible 4, L7Drive, City of Espoo, Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom, VTT, Aalto University, Tampere University, the University of Helsinki, and Spinverse as ecosystem leader.

The project is funded by the participating companies and Business Finland.

The results of the project were presented on 15 June 2021 in the webinar Smart infrastructure and services for sustainable cities.