Business informatics student Philipp Nuhn from the Philipps University of Marburg is currently writing his bachelor thesis on a highly topical and practical subject: the strategic positioning of the advertising pillar 4.0, a central emergenCITY project for resilient crisis communication.
The advertising pillar 4.0 is designed as an analog-digital information system for crisis situations, which remains functional even during a large-scale power outage if other means of warning, such as television or mobile communications, fail. The aim is to reliably display important information from the authorities. Existing advertising pillars will be equipped with the appropriate technology for this purpose. However, the location of the pillars in the city is crucial to their effectiveness.
Philipp Nuhn is investigating precisely this question in his bachelor’s thesis, which he is writing with Thorsten Papenbrock, Professor of Big Data Analytics at the Philipps University of Marburg and emergenCITY PI. Using realistic traffic simulation data (based on the TAPAS (Travel and Activity Patterns Simulation) model), he is analyzing at which locations in the city people move most frequently within certain periods of time. This movement data serves as the basis for an algorithmic approach for the optimal placement of the information pillars.
“It simply doesn’t make sense to set them up in places where hardly anyone passes by,” says Nuhn.
In addition to pure footfall, he therefore takes into account factors such as solar radiation, which is relevant for the solar-powered operation of the pillars, as well as potential cost-benefit considerations.
The aim of his bachelor’s thesis is to use intelligent planning to reach as many people as possible with strategically located pillars.
Philipp Nuhn is currently developing various algorithmic approaches. For example, he is trying to take particularly vulnerable population groups into account. He is also investigating how suitable locations can be better identified, for example by taking into account whether the advertising pillars are shaded by trees or surrounding buildings and how much sunlight is available.
Nuhn is very motivated to continue researching the project:
“The more I look into it, the clearer it becomes how quickly an electricity crisis can take on catastrophic proportions. If my work helps to counteract this - even if only as an impetus - then that makes me very happy.”
