Performance assessment for mountain bike based on WSN and Cloud Technologies

The mountain bike is one of the most used equipment’s in outdoor sports activities. The thesis describes the design and all development and implementation of Performance Assessment for Mountain Bike based on Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) and Cloud Technologies. The work presents a distributed sensing system for cycling assessment-providing data for objective evaluation of the athlete performance during training. Thus a wireless sensor network attached to the sport equipment provides to the athlete and the coach with performance values during practice. The sensors placed in biker equipment’s behave as nodes of a WSN. This is possible with the developing of IoT-based systems in sports, the tracking and monitoring of athletes in their activities has an important role on his formation as bikers and helps to increase performance, through the analyze of each session. The implemented system performs acquisition, processing and transmission, of data using a ZigBee wireless networks that provide also machine-to-machine communication and data storage in a server located in the cloud. As in many cycling applications use the phone as a module to get the values, this work will be a little different making use of phone/tablet to consult information. The information stored on the cloud server is accessed through a mobile application that analyses and correlates all metrics calculated using the training data obtained during practice. Additional information regarding the health status may be also considered. Therefore, the system permits that athletes perform an unlimited number of trainings that can be accessed at any time through the mobile application by the bikers and coach. Based on capability of the system to save a history of the evolution of each athlete during training the system permits to perform appropriate comparisons between different training sessions and different athlete’s performances.A bicicleta de montanha é um dos equipamentos para desportos no exterior mais usada. A tese descreve todo o desenho, desenvolvimento e implementação de Performance Assessment for Mountain Bike based on WSN and Cloud Technologies. Este apresenta um sistema de deteção distribuída para o aumento do desempenho, melhorar a metodologia da prática do ciclismo e para formação de atletas. Para tal foi desenvolvida e anexada uma rede de sensores que está embutida no equipamento do ciclista, através desta rede de sensores sem fios são obtidos os valores respetivos à interação do utilizador e a sua bicicleta, sendo estes apresentados ao treinador e ao próprio ciclista. Os sensores colocados comportam-se como nós de uma rede de sensores sem fios. Isso é possível com o desenvolvimento de sistemas baseados na Internet das coisas no desporto, a observação da movimentação e monitoramento de atletas nas suas atividades tem um papel importante na sua formação como ciclistas e ajuda a aumentar o desempenho. O sistema é baseado numa rede ZigBee sem fios, que permite a comunicação máquina-para-máquina e o armazenamento de dados num servidor localizado na nuvem. Toda a informação na nuvem pode ser acedida através de uma aplicação mobile que analisa e correlaciona todos os valores calculados usando os dados recolhidos durante o treino efetuado por cada ciclista. Como em muitas aplicações de ciclismo estas usam o telefone como um módulo para obter os valores, neste trabalho o caso é diferente fazendo o uso do telefone/tablet para apenas consultar as informações. Alguma informação sobre o ciclista é fornecida para poder efetuar alguns cálculos, relativos à saúde do ciclista, neste caso toda a energia gasta na prática de um determinado treino. Toda esta informação pode ser acedida através de uma aplicação Android e por consequência num dispositivo Android. Com a aplicação desenvolvida é possível observar e processar toda a informação recolhida através dos sensores implementados, a observação dos dados recolhidos pode ser efetuada pelo treinador responsável, como pelo próprio atleta. Portanto, o sistema permite a realização de um ilimitado número de sessões de treino, estes podem ser consultados a qualquer momento através da aplicação móvel. Fazendo com que seja possível manter um histórico da evolução de cada atleta, podendo assim observar e comparar cada sessão de treino, realizada por cada atleta

Using a Smart City IoT to Incentivise and Target Shifts in Mobility Behaviour-Is It a Piece of Pie?

The work presented in this paper is a central part of the research and development in the SUNSET project (contract No. 270228), supported by the 7th Framework Research Program funded by the European Commission. The authors also acknowledge the support of other SUNSET consortium members in helping to create and evaluate the SUNSET tripzoom system

Cyclist training monitoring system based on wireless sensor network

Recent innovation of technology in wireless sensor network (WSN) has eased the deployment of WSN in many applications such as health monitoring system. This research presents a cyclist training monitoring system that is equipped with a set of sensors using the WSN technology. This enables continuous monitoring process of cyclist training that can be done anytime and anywhere. A stable and reliable wireless cyclist monitoring system with minimum data loss is vital to establish a smart and efficient sports management program that can lead to better quality outcomes of cyclist training. This cyclist training monitoring system has been developed and tested in real cyclist training environment in velodrome. The system is designed based on WSN that is linked to the cloud network on the Internet. Using TelG node as the basis, customized transceiver nodes are developed to establish the WSN. These nodes have been built with 30% reduction in size from the existing nodes. Seven measurements were conducted to investigate several factors that affect the packet loss rate before the system architecture was constructed. The factors that were taken into account during the measurements are the distance between the transmitter and the receiver, the height and angle of the receiver, the mobility of the transmitter, the transmission power of the transmitter, as well as the packet size and transmission rate. The results from the measurements correspond to the wireless communication theory. Based on the seven measurements, the system architecture was constructed. Several experiments were conducted in a real scenario in velodrome to measure the reliability of the system architecture. It was shown from the experiments that the proposed system is reliable even when the cyclist is moving at high speed which is 30km/h constantly. The packet loss in all experiments conducted is less than 2%, which does not give huge impact to the sensor data transmission. In addition, the results have shown that the proposed system can produce minimum end-to-end delay which is at 11ms when packet size is below 20 bytes which can be neglected

Hierarchical distributed fog-to-cloud data management in smart cities

There is a vast amount of data being generated every day in the world with different formats, quality levels, etc. This new data, together with the archived historical data, constitute the seed for future knowledge discovery and value generation in several fields of science and big data environments. Discovering value from data is a complex computing process where data is the key resource, not only during its processing, but also during its entire life cycle. However, there is still a huge concern about how to organize and manage this data in all fields for efficient usage and exploitation during all data life cycles. Although several specific Data LifeCycle (DLC) models have been recently defined for particular scenarios, we argue that there is no global and comprehensive DLC framework to be widely used in different fields. In particular scenario, smart cities are the current technological solutions to handle the challenges and complexity of the growing urban density. Traditionally, Smart City resources management rely on cloud based solutions where sensors data are collected to provide a centralized and rich set of open data. The advantages of cloud-based frameworks are their ubiquity, as well as an (almost) unlimited resources capacity. However, accessing data from the cloud implies large network traffic, high latencies usually not appropriate for real-time or critical solutions, as well as higher security risks. Alternatively, fog computing emerges as a promising technology to absorb these inconveniences. It proposes the use of devices at the edge to provide closer computing facilities and, therefore, reducing network traffic, reducing latencies drastically while improving security. We have defined a new framework for data management in the context of a Smart City through a global fog to cloud resources management architecture. This model has the advantages of both, fog and cloud technologies, as it allows reduced latencies for critical applications while being able to use the high computing capabilities of cloud technology. In this thesis, we propose many novel ideas in the design of a novel F2C Data Management architecture for smart cities as following. First, we draw and describe a comprehensive scenario agnostic Data LifeCycle model successfully addressing all challenges included in the 6Vs not tailored to any specific environment, but easy to be adapted to fit the requirements of any particular field. Then, we introduce the Smart City Comprehensive Data LifeCycle model, a data management architecture generated from a comprehensive scenario agnostic model, tailored for the particular scenario of Smart Cities. We define the management of each data life phase, and explain its implementation on a Smart City with Fog-to-Cloud (F2C) resources management. And then, we illustrate a novel architecture for data management in the context of a Smart City through a global fog to cloud resources management architecture. We show this model has the advantages of both, fog and cloud, as it allows reduced latencies for critical applications while being able to use the high computing capabilities of cloud technology. As a first experiment for the F2C data management architecture, a real Smart City is analyzed, corresponding to the city of Barcelona, with special emphasis on the layers responsible for collecting the data generated by the deployed sensors. The amount of daily sensors data transmitted through the network has been estimated and a rough projection has been made assuming an exhaustive deployment that fully covers all city. And, we provide some solutions to both reduce the data transmission and improve the data management. Then, we used some data filtering techniques (including data aggregation and data compression) to estimate the network traffic in this model during data collection and compare it with a traditional real system. Indeed, we estimate the total data storage sizes through F2C scenario for Barcelona smart citiesAl món es generen diàriament una gran quantitat de dades, amb diferents formats, nivells de qualitat, etc. Aquestes noves dades, juntament amb les dades històriques arxivades, constitueixen la llavor per al descobriment de coneixement i la generació de valor en diversos camps de la ciència i grans entorns de dades (big data). Descobrir el valor de les dades és un procés complex de càlcul on les dades són el recurs clau, no només durant el seu processament, sinó també durant tot el seu cicle de vida. Tanmateix, encara hi ha una gran preocupació per com organitzar i gestionar aquestes dades en tots els camps per a un ús i explotació eficients durant tots els cicles de vida de les dades. Encara que recentment s'han definit diversos models específics de Data LifeCycle (DLC) per a escenaris particulars, argumentem que no hi ha un marc global i complet de DLC que s'utilitzi àmpliament en diferents camps. En particular, les ciutats intel·ligents són les solucions tecnològiques actuals per fer front als reptes i la complexitat de la creixent densitat urbana. Tradicionalment, la gestió de recursos de Smart City es basa en solucions basades en núvol (cloud computing) on es recopilen dades de sensors per proporcionar un conjunt de dades obert i centralitzat. Les avantatges dels entorns basats en núvol són la seva ubiqüitat, així com una capacitat (gairebé) il·limitada de recursos. Tanmateix, l'accés a dades del núvol implica un gran trànsit de xarxa i, en general, les latències elevades no són apropiades per a solucions crítiques o en temps real, així com també per a riscos de seguretat més elevats. Alternativament, el processament de boira (fog computing) sorgeix com una tecnologia prometedora per absorbir aquests inconvenients. Proposa l'ús de dispositius a la vora per proporcionar recuirsos informàtics més propers i, per tant, reduir el trànsit de la xarxa, reduint les latències dràsticament mentre es millora la seguretat. Hem definit un nou marc per a la gestió de dades en el context d'una ciutat intel·ligent a través d'una arquitectura de gestió de recursos des de la boira fins al núvol (Fog-to-Cloud computing, o F2C). Aquest model té els avantatges combinats de les tecnologies de boira i de núvol, ja que permet reduir les latències per a aplicacions crítiques mentre es poden utilitzar les grans capacitats informàtiques de la tecnologia en núvol. En aquesta tesi, proposem algunes idees noves en el disseny d'una arquitectura F2C de gestió de dades per a ciutats intel·ligents. En primer lloc, dibuixem i descrivim un model de Data LifeCycle global agnòstic que aborda amb èxit tots els reptes inclosos en els 6V i no adaptats a un entorn específic, però fàcil d'adaptar-se als requisits de qualsevol camp en concret. A continuació, presentem el model de Data LifeCycle complet per a una ciutat intel·ligent, una arquitectura de gestió de dades generada a partir d'un model agnòstic d'escenari global, adaptat a l'escenari particular de ciutat intel·ligent. Definim la gestió de cada fase de la vida de les dades i expliquem la seva implementació en una ciutat intel·ligent amb gestió de recursos F2C. I, a continuació, il·lustrem la nova arquitectura per a la gestió de dades en el context d'una Smart City a través d'una arquitectura de gestió de recursos F2C. Mostrem que aquest model té els avantatges d'ambdues, la tecnologia de boira i de núvol, ja que permet reduir les latències per a aplicacions crítiques mentre es pot utilitzar la gran capacitat de processament de la tecnologia en núvol. Com a primer experiment per a l'arquitectura de gestió de dades F2C, s'analitza una ciutat intel·ligent real, corresponent a la ciutat de Barcelona, amb especial èmfasi en les capes responsables de recollir les dades generades pels sensors desplegats. S'ha estimat la quantitat de dades de sensors diàries que es transmet a través de la xarxa i s'ha realitzat una projecció aproximada assumint un desplegament exhaustiu que cobreix tota la ciutat

Hierarchical distributed fog-to-cloud data management in smart cities

There is a vast amount of data being generated every day in the world with different formats, quality levels, etc. This new data, together with the archived historical data, constitute the seed for future knowledge discovery and value generation in several fields of science and big data environments. Discovering value from data is a complex computing process where data is the key resource, not only during its processing, but also during its entire life cycle. However, there is still a huge concern about how to organize and manage this data in all fields for efficient usage and exploitation during all data life cycles. Although several specific Data LifeCycle (DLC) models have been recently defined for particular scenarios, we argue that there is no global and comprehensive DLC framework to be widely used in different fields. In particular scenario, smart cities are the current technological solutions to handle the challenges and complexity of the growing urban density. Traditionally, Smart City resources management rely on cloud based solutions where sensors data are collected to provide a centralized and rich set of open data. The advantages of cloud-based frameworks are their ubiquity, as well as an (almost) unlimited resources capacity. However, accessing data from the cloud implies large network traffic, high latencies usually not appropriate for real-time or critical solutions, as well as higher security risks. Alternatively, fog computing emerges as a promising technology to absorb these inconveniences. It proposes the use of devices at the edge to provide closer computing facilities and, therefore, reducing network traffic, reducing latencies drastically while improving security. We have defined a new framework for data management in the context of a Smart City through a global fog to cloud resources management architecture. This model has the advantages of both, fog and cloud technologies, as it allows reduced latencies for critical applications while being able to use the high computing capabilities of cloud technology. In this thesis, we propose many novel ideas in the design of a novel F2C Data Management architecture for smart cities as following. First, we draw and describe a comprehensive scenario agnostic Data LifeCycle model successfully addressing all challenges included in the 6Vs not tailored to any specific environment, but easy to be adapted to fit the requirements of any particular field. Then, we introduce the Smart City Comprehensive Data LifeCycle model, a data management architecture generated from a comprehensive scenario agnostic model, tailored for the particular scenario of Smart Cities. We define the management of each data life phase, and explain its implementation on a Smart City with Fog-to-Cloud (F2C) resources management. And then, we illustrate a novel architecture for data management in the context of a Smart City through a global fog to cloud resources management architecture. We show this model has the advantages of both, fog and cloud, as it allows reduced latencies for critical applications while being able to use the high computing capabilities of cloud technology. As a first experiment for the F2C data management architecture, a real Smart City is analyzed, corresponding to the city of Barcelona, with special emphasis on the layers responsible for collecting the data generated by the deployed sensors. The amount of daily sensors data transmitted through the network has been estimated and a rough projection has been made assuming an exhaustive deployment that fully covers all city. And, we provide some solutions to both reduce the data transmission and improve the data management. Then, we used some data filtering techniques (including data aggregation and data compression) to estimate the network traffic in this model during data collection and compare it with a traditional real system. Indeed, we estimate the total data storage sizes through F2C scenario for Barcelona smart citiesAl món es generen diàriament una gran quantitat de dades, amb diferents formats, nivells de qualitat, etc. Aquestes noves dades, juntament amb les dades històriques arxivades, constitueixen la llavor per al descobriment de coneixement i la generació de valor en diversos camps de la ciència i grans entorns de dades (big data). Descobrir el valor de les dades és un procés complex de càlcul on les dades són el recurs clau, no només durant el seu processament, sinó també durant tot el seu cicle de vida. Tanmateix, encara hi ha una gran preocupació per com organitzar i gestionar aquestes dades en tots els camps per a un ús i explotació eficients durant tots els cicles de vida de les dades. Encara que recentment s'han definit diversos models específics de Data LifeCycle (DLC) per a escenaris particulars, argumentem que no hi ha un marc global i complet de DLC que s'utilitzi àmpliament en diferents camps. En particular, les ciutats intel·ligents són les solucions tecnològiques actuals per fer front als reptes i la complexitat de la creixent densitat urbana. Tradicionalment, la gestió de recursos de Smart City es basa en solucions basades en núvol (cloud computing) on es recopilen dades de sensors per proporcionar un conjunt de dades obert i centralitzat. Les avantatges dels entorns basats en núvol són la seva ubiqüitat, així com una capacitat (gairebé) il·limitada de recursos. Tanmateix, l'accés a dades del núvol implica un gran trànsit de xarxa i, en general, les latències elevades no són apropiades per a solucions crítiques o en temps real, així com també per a riscos de seguretat més elevats. Alternativament, el processament de boira (fog computing) sorgeix com una tecnologia prometedora per absorbir aquests inconvenients. Proposa l'ús de dispositius a la vora per proporcionar recuirsos informàtics més propers i, per tant, reduir el trànsit de la xarxa, reduint les latències dràsticament mentre es millora la seguretat. Hem definit un nou marc per a la gestió de dades en el context d'una ciutat intel·ligent a través d'una arquitectura de gestió de recursos des de la boira fins al núvol (Fog-to-Cloud computing, o F2C). Aquest model té els avantatges combinats de les tecnologies de boira i de núvol, ja que permet reduir les latències per a aplicacions crítiques mentre es poden utilitzar les grans capacitats informàtiques de la tecnologia en núvol. En aquesta tesi, proposem algunes idees noves en el disseny d'una arquitectura F2C de gestió de dades per a ciutats intel·ligents. En primer lloc, dibuixem i descrivim un model de Data LifeCycle global agnòstic que aborda amb èxit tots els reptes inclosos en els 6V i no adaptats a un entorn específic, però fàcil d'adaptar-se als requisits de qualsevol camp en concret. A continuació, presentem el model de Data LifeCycle complet per a una ciutat intel·ligent, una arquitectura de gestió de dades generada a partir d'un model agnòstic d'escenari global, adaptat a l'escenari particular de ciutat intel·ligent. Definim la gestió de cada fase de la vida de les dades i expliquem la seva implementació en una ciutat intel·ligent amb gestió de recursos F2C. I, a continuació, il·lustrem la nova arquitectura per a la gestió de dades en el context d'una Smart City a través d'una arquitectura de gestió de recursos F2C. Mostrem que aquest model té els avantatges d'ambdues, la tecnologia de boira i de núvol, ja que permet reduir les latències per a aplicacions crítiques mentre es pot utilitzar la gran capacitat de processament de la tecnologia en núvol. Com a primer experiment per a l'arquitectura de gestió de dades F2C, s'analitza una ciutat intel·ligent real, corresponent a la ciutat de Barcelona, amb especial èmfasi en les capes responsables de recollir les dades generades pels sensors desplegats. S'ha estimat la quantitat de dades de sensors diàries que es transmet a través de la xarxa i s'ha realitzat una projecció aproximada assumint un desplegament exhaustiu que cobreix tota la ciutat.Postprint (published version

Análisis Urbano y Comunidades Inteligentes: Una Aproximación al Empleo de la Tecnología en la Movilidad Cotidiana

Concentration of population in urban centers is a global problem for which different strategies in order to organize different processes in cities and improve the quality of life are required. The creation of smart communities is shown as a sustainable solution since they deal with various key aspects, such as traffic management and mobility, through the use of information technologies (ITs). This work presents a review of recent studies using information technologies for urban analysis and mobility in cities. A descriptive analysis of automated methods for collecting and analyzing citizens’ mobility patterns is performed; it is centered in smart card use, geolocation and geotagging. It is concluded that a robust communication infrastructure, supported by an efficient computational platform allowing big data management and ubiquitous computing, is a crucial aspect for urban management in a smart communityLa concentración de la población en los centros urbanos es una problemática mundial que requiere de estrategias que permitan organizar sus procesos y mejorar la calidad de vida. La creación de comunidades inteligentes se muestra como una solución sostenible, debido a que éstas trabajan aspectos claves para el desarrollo urbano, como la gestión de tráfico y la movilidad, apoyada en las tecnologías de la información (TICs). Este trabajo presenta una revisión del estado del arte en cuanto a la aplicación de las TICs al análisis urbano y movilidad ciudadana. Se analizan descriptivamente diversos métodos automáticos para la recolección y el análisis del patrón de movilidad de los ciudadanos, enfocándose en el uso de tarjetas inteligentes, geolocalización y geoetiquetado. Se encuentra que una infraestructura de comunicaciones robusta, apoyada en una plataforma computacional ágil con manejo de grandes datos y computación ubicua, es primordial para la gestión urbana en una comunidad inteligente