Towards rapid modeling and prototyping of indoor and outdoor monitoring applications

Nowadays, the capability to remotely monitor indoor and outdoor environments would allow to reduce energy consumption and improve the overall management and users’ experience of network application systems. The most known solutions adopting remote control are related to domotics (e.g., smart homes and industry 4.0 applications). An important stimulus for the development of such smart approaches is the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies and the increasing investment in the development of green houses, buildings, and, in general, heterogeneous environments. While the benefits for the humans and the environment are evident, a pervasive adoption and distribution of remote monitoring solutions are hindered by the following issue: modeling, designing, prototyping, and further developing the remote applications and underlying architecture require a certain amount of time. Moreover, such systems must be often customized on the basis of the need of the specific domain and involved entities. For such reasons, in this paper, we provide the experience made in addressing some relevant indoor and outdoor case studies through IoT-targeted tools, technologies and protocols, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of the considered solutions as well as insights that can be useful for future practitioners

Internet of Things-aided Smart Grid: Technologies, Architectures, Applications, Prototypes, and Future Research Directions

Traditional power grids are being transformed into Smart Grids (SGs) to address the issues in existing power system due to uni-directional information flow, energy wastage, growing energy demand, reliability and security. SGs offer bi-directional energy flow between service providers and consumers, involving power generation, transmission, distribution and utilization systems. SGs employ various devices for the monitoring, analysis and control of the grid, deployed at power plants, distribution centers and in consumers' premises in a very large number. Hence, an SG requires connectivity, automation and the tracking of such devices. This is achieved with the help of Internet of Things (IoT). IoT helps SG systems to support various network functions throughout the generation, transmission, distribution and consumption of energy by incorporating IoT devices (such as sensors, actuators and smart meters), as well as by providing the connectivity, automation and tracking for such devices. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive survey on IoT-aided SG systems, which includes the existing architectures, applications and prototypes of IoT-aided SG systems. This survey also highlights the open issues, challenges and future research directions for IoT-aided SG systems

An architecture for distributed ledger-based M2M auditing for Electric Autonomous Vehicles

Electric Autonomous Vehicles (EAVs) promise to be an effective way to solve transportation issues such as accidents, emissions and congestion, and aim at establishing the foundation of Machine-to-Machine (M2M) economy. For this to be possible, the market should be able to offer appropriate charging services without involving humans. The state-of-the-art mechanisms of charging and billing do not meet this requirement, and often impose service fees for value transactions that may also endanger users and their location privacy. This paper aims at filling this gap and envisions a new charging architecture and a billing framework for EAV which would enable M2M transactions via the use of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)

Design of Smart Agricultural Monitoring and Management System

One of the important contents of China’s agricultural construction is vegetable planting, and most of the vegetable planting technology is relatively backward. The commonly used greenhouse planting technology is simply using special mechanical planting management methods, which cannot realize real-time monitoring of crop growth. In order to optimize the crop growth environment and improve the yield, a smart agricultural monitoring and management system based on PLC and MCGS configuration technology is designed. The system combines PLC technology, configuration technology and sensor technology to complete the overall structure design of the control system, and separately explains the hardware design, software design and operation and debugging of the system. The experimental results show that the system can remotely monitor and control the growing environment of crops, such as soil moisture, gas temperature and humidity, light intensity and other parameters, and the operation and maintenance are convenient, which provides a reference method for the intelligent development of agriculture

Automatic Fish Feeder and Telegram Based Aquarium Water Level Monitoring

An important factor in maintaining fish in an aquarium is the timeliness of feeding fish. Most fish keepers are worried about the aquarium's feeding and water conditions, which must be done every day. Therefore, an automatic fish feeding tool and telegram-based monitoring of aquarium water levels were made to make it easier for fish keepers and aquarium owners to provide and monitor fish feed automatically according to a predetermined schedule. Monitoring the remaining feed and water level in the aquarium is done via Telegram. The components used in this tool are Esp 8266 as a microcontroller, RTC as a timer for scheduling fish feed, Ultrasonic as a detector for remaining fish feed, JSN-SR04T as a water level detector, LCD to display time and date as well as notifications and a servo motor functions to open and close the fish feed. The conclusion from the results obtained from this device is that the device works well and helps the aquarium owner to monitor and feed efficiently, despite some challenges such as delay due to poor internet connection

Internet of Things (IoT) in Agriculture Industries

The IoT applications in the agriculture industry are intertwined in many ways, creating a hybrid construct of traditional businesses with digital connectivity implementations. Strategic issues and principles on the assimilation of IoT solutions are prevail through time: investment costs, data interconnectivity, management and analysis, as well as data security. The agriculture industry is expected to be always alerted for the changes that may apply, with all the contemporary challenges and future directions responding to the situations, so it can reap the optimum use of the IoT connectivity

Development of an IoT-Based PLC Trainer: Bridging the Practical Divide in Industrial Automation Education

In the dynamic landscape of digitalization, the fusion of Internet of Things (IoT) tech-nology with Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) has emerged as a pivotal avenue, promising enriched practical experiences and heightened comprehension. This paper navi-gates through recent studies elucidating the applications of IoT-based PLCs in diverse con-texts, from smart home automation to traffic control and resource management. Notable contributions include remote monitoring systems, smart traffic control, water level moni-toring, and automated greenhouses. Acknowledging persistent challenges in understanding and implementing PLCs, this research introduces an innovative IoT-based PLC Trainer Kit. The kit aims to elevate prac-tical learning by providing hands-on experiences, refining skills, and optimizing applica-tions across various domains. Emphasizing the pivotal role of practical training in PLC education, the study conducts a needs analysis, followed by the design, development, and testing phases of the IoT-based PLC Trainer. The prototype, employing an Omron CPM1A PLC, pneumatic components, sensors, and an intuitive interface, undergoes meticulous testing, affirming its readiness for deployment. The development of the IoT-based PLC Trainer marks a significant achievement, ad-dressing the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application. Through metic-ulous design, material selection, and testing, the trainer demonstrates optimal functionali-ty and user-friendliness. Anticipating its deployment in educational institutions and in-dustrial setups, the trainer is poised to contribute to the realm of industrial automation, offering a practical understanding of PLC applications within the Internet of Things con-text. This project not only signifies technical expertise but also bridges the gap between theory and practice in the dynamic domain of IoT-driven programmable logic control-ler

Internet of Things (IoT) in agriculture industries

The IoT applications in the agriculture industry are intertwined in many ways, creating a hybrid construct of traditional businesses with digital connectivity implementations. Strategic issues and principles on the assimilation of IoT solutions are prevail through time: investment costs, data interconnectivity, management and analysis, as well as data security. The agriculture industry is expected to be always alerted for the changes that may apply, with all the contemporary challenges and future directions responding to the situations, so it can reap the optimum use of the IoT connectivity