Advantages and disadvantages of automation in lighting

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Quick Questions

Shade in the A or B circle for each question.

1. A school car park has lights that switch on when a sensor detects darkness. Which is an ADVANTAGE in this scenario?

A The sensor can never develop a fault

B Lights turn off in daylight, so less electricity is wasted

2. A farm yard light is triggered by a movement sensor. Foxes often walk past at night. Which is a DISADVANTAGE linked to this scenario?

A Someone has to walk out and switch the light on each night

B Animals can cause false triggers, so the light switches on when nobody is there

3. A town installs automatic street lights that come on at dusk. Which point best shows improved SAFETY at night?

A Lights come on when it gets dark, so paths are lit for people walking home

B The council pays a one-off cost to install the sensors

4. A hotel corridor has lights with a light sensor. The sensor breaks and the lights stay on all day. Which drawback does this show?

A A sensor fault leaves the lights on and wastes energy

B The lights save energy because the sensor is working

5. A school wants to fit movement-sensor lights in 40 classrooms. Which is a DISADVANTAGE in this scenario?

A The sensors, wiring and fitting cost a lot to buy and install

B Teachers no longer have to remember to switch lights off

Match the Pairs

Draw a line connecting each item on the left to its match on the right.

Left column		Right column
1IF motion = TRUE AND light < 20 THEN lamp ← ON		AIF motion = TRUE THEN lamp ← ON
2IF sensor = FAULTY THEN lamp stays ON		BOnly gives a benefit and ignores drawbacks such as installation cost, sensor faults and false triggers by animals. It also does not link to the scenario.
3Benefit in a car park scenario: lights come on when a person walks in at night, so they are safer		CLights come on only when someone is detected in the dark, which saves energy and means no one has to find a switch.
4Drawback in a garden scenario: a fox walking past is a false trigger that wastes energy		DA faulty sensor can leave the lights on all night and waste energy, which is a drawback of automatic lighting.
5Automatic lights are always better because nothing can go wrong.		EIF motion = TRUE (fox) THEN lamp ← ON
6Automatic lights are good and bad.		FToo vague. It names no benefit or drawback and uses no details from the scenario given in the question.

Definitions

automatic lighting trade-off

Fill in the Blanks

Complete each line of code by filling in the missing parts.

IF motion = TRUE ___ light < 20 THEN lamp ← ON ENDIF

IF light < 20 THEN lamp ← __ ENDIF

_____ power = ON IF motion = TRUE THEN lamp ← ON ENDWHILE

IF fault = TRUE THEN ______ "Check sensor" ENDIF

IF motion = TRUE AND size _ 30 THEN lamp ← ON ENDIF

Spot the Error

Shade in the letter of the line that contains an error.

Question 1

A REPEAT

B light ← ReadLightSensor()

C IF light > 30 THEN

D lamp ← ON

E ELSE lamp ← OFF

F UNTIL FALSE

Question 2

A WHILE TRUE

B m ← ReadMotionSensor()

C IF m = TRUE THEN lamp ← ON

D ELSE lamp ← ON

E ENDWHILE

Question 3

A light ← ReadTempSensor()

B IF light < 30 THEN

C streetLamp ← ON

Question 4

A threshold ← "dark"

B reading ← ReadLightSensor()

C IF reading < threshold THEN

D lamp ← ON

Question 5

A motion ← ReadMotionSensor()

B weight ← ReadLightSensor()

C IF motion AND weight > 9 THEN

D lamp ← ON

Answer Key

Advantages and disadvantages of automation in lighting

Section A: Quick Questions

B — Lights turn off in daylight, so less electricity is wasted

B — Animals can cause false triggers, so the light switches on when nobody is there

A — Lights come on when it gets dark, so paths are lit for people walking home

A — A sensor fault leaves the lights on and wastes energy

A — The sensors, wiring and fitting cost a lot to buy and install

Section B: Match the Pairs

IF motion = TRUE AND light < 20 THEN lamp ← ON → Lights come on only when someone is detected in the dark, which saves energy and means no one has to find a switch.

IF sensor = FAULTY THEN lamp stays ON → A faulty sensor can leave the lights on all night and waste energy, which is a drawback of automatic lighting.

Benefit in a car park scenario: lights come on when a person walks in at night, so they are safer → IF motion = TRUE THEN lamp ← ON

Drawback in a garden scenario: a fox walking past is a false trigger that wastes energy → IF motion = TRUE (fox) THEN lamp ← ON

Automatic lights are always better because nothing can go wrong. → Only gives a benefit and ignores drawbacks such as installation cost, sensor faults and false triggers by animals. It also does not link to the scenario.

Automatic lights are good and bad. → Too vague. It names no benefit or drawback and uses no details from the scenario given in the question.

Section C: Definitions

automatic lighting trade-off — Weigh benefits (saves energy, safer at night, no switching) against drawbacks (install cost, sensor faults, animal false triggers) and link each point to the scenario.

Section D: Fill in the Blanks

IF motion = TRUE AND light < 20 THEN
  lamp ← ON
ENDIF

IF light < 20 THEN
  lamp ← ON
ENDIF

WHILE power = ON
  IF motion = TRUE THEN lamp ← ON
ENDWHILE

IF fault = TRUE THEN
  OUTPUT "Check sensor"
ENDIF

IF motion = TRUE AND size > 30 THEN
  lamp ← ON
ENDIF

Section E: Spot the Error

C — The lamp should switch on only when the reading is below the dark value (light < 30). With > the lamp comes on in daylight and is off at night, which wastes energy and removes the safety benefit.

D — When no movement is detected the lamp should go OFF. Setting it to ON keeps the light on all night, so the energy-saving advantage is lost.

A — A temperature sensor cannot tell if it is dark. A light sensor is needed so the lamp switches on automatically at night, so no one has to switch it.

A — The stored value must be a number so the microprocessor can compare it with the numeric light sensor reading. It should be threshold ← 30.

B — To stop animals causing false triggers, the program checks weight, so it needs ReadWeightSensor(). A light reading cannot show whether a fox or a person is on the path.