A Hazardous Area Personal Monitoring System for Operators in Gas Depots and Storage Tanks

This work describes a smart monitoring system for the detection of flammable gas residues, toxic gases, and reduced oxygen concentrations. The proposed system aims at reducing the risk of fires and explosions, thus increasing the safety of workers engaged in maintenance or inspection of gas storages. The monitoring system is based on compact battery-powered wearable sensor nodes containing sensors for LPG flammable compounds, toxic gases, and oxygen. The designed system can also increase plants safety by incorporating an intrusion detection system, which prevents unauthorized access to safety-critical areas to prevent accidents. The sensor nodes transmit data through a LoRa low power radio channel to a remote server whereas they allow for the identification of the operators for the access to restricted areas exploiting a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) proximity technique

Security and Privacy Issues in IoT

Internet of Things (IoT) is a global network of physical and virtual ‘things’ connected to the internet. Each object has unique ID which is used for identification. IoT is the emerging technology which will change the way we interact with devices. In future almost every electronic device will be a smart device which can compute and communicate with hand-held and other infrastructure devices. As most of the devices may be battery operated, due to less processing power the security and privacy is a major issue in IoT. Authentication, Identification and device heterogeneity are the major security and privacy concerns in IoT. Major challenges include integration, scalability, ethics communication mechanism, business models and surveillance. In this paper major issues related to security and privacy of IoT are focused

Slack in the infrastructure of intensive care units : resilience management in the postpandemic era

Background Although slack is an asset to resilient hospitals, it is usually explicitly discussed only in terms of the quantity and quality of beds and staff. This paper expands this view by addressing slack in four infrastructures of intensive care units (ICUs) (physical space, electricity supply, oxygen supply, and air treatment) during the COVID pandemic. Methods The study occurred in a leading private hospital in Brazil, aiming at the identification of slack in four units originally designed as ICUs and two units adapted as ICUs. Data collection was based on 12 interviews with healthcare professionals, documents, and comparison between infrastructures and regulatory requirements. Results Twenty-seven instantiations of slack were identified, with several indications that the adapted ICUs did not provide infrastructure conditions as good as the designed ones. Findings gave rise to five propositions addressing: relationships intra and inter infrastructures; the need for adapted ICUs that match as closely as possible the designed ICUs; the consideration of both clinical and engineering perspectives in design; and the need for the revision of some requirements of the Brazilian regulations. Conclusions Results are relevant to both the designers of the infrastructures and to the designers of clinical activities as these must take place in fit-for-purpose workspaces. Top management might also benefit as they are the ultimate responsible for decision-making on whether or not to invest in slack. The pandemic dramatically demonstrated the value of investing in slack resources, creating momentum for this discussion in health services

Formulation of a cislunar human transportation architecture through the use of analytic, heuristic, and parametric algorithms

The purpose of this study was to conduct a conceptual design study for a lunar transfer vehicle, thus considering the question of whether or not it is possible to conduct a human lunar return given a restriction to exclusively use currently existing technology. A variety of analytic, parametric, and heuristic techniques were used to develop a comprehensive vehicle design. A modular design resulted, consisting of six component spacecraft and an associated mission control environment. A cost analysis was performed to determine an approximate funding level required to support such a vehicle. Recommendations for integration of this lunar transfer vehicle design with a lunar surface base are provided as well as recommendations for further research

A critical analysis of research potential, challenges and future directives in industrial wireless sensor networks

In recent years, Industrial Wireless Sensor Networks (IWSNs) have emerged as an important research theme with applications spanning a wide range of industries including automation, monitoring, process control, feedback systems and automotive. Wide scope of IWSNs applications ranging from small production units, large oil and gas industries to nuclear fission control, enables a fast-paced research in this field. Though IWSNs offer advantages of low cost, flexibility, scalability, self-healing, easy deployment and reformation, yet they pose certain limitations on available potential and introduce challenges on multiple fronts due to their susceptibility to highly complex and uncertain industrial environments. In this paper a detailed discussion on design objectives, challenges and solutions, for IWSNs, are presented. A careful evaluation of industrial systems, deadlines and possible hazards in industrial atmosphere are discussed. The paper also presents a thorough review of the existing standards and industrial protocols and gives a critical evaluation of potential of these standards and protocols along with a detailed discussion on available hardware platforms, specific industrial energy harvesting techniques and their capabilities. The paper lists main service providers for IWSNs solutions and gives insight of future trends and research gaps in the field of IWSNs

Conceptual Framework for Appling Internet of Things in Production Systems for Sensing Enterprises

Sensing Enterprise is a new concept, which appears with the Internet of Things (IoT) application in industry. This technology applied in production systems provides many benefits like better transparency or real time information. This approach proposes a conceptual framework for IoT application in Production Systems. The aim of this framework is helping enterprises to identify the main elements to apply IoT in Production Systems. To create this framework, a literature re-view has been made and the main components of IoT in Sensing Enterprise in production proposals have been identify. Thus, these elements and its relations have been the source for the conceptual framework proposed.Boza, A.; Cortés-Santamaría, B.; Alemany Díaz, MDM.; Cuenca, L. (2016). Conceptual Framework for Appling Internet of Things in Production Systems for Sensing Enterprises. Brazilian Journal of Operations and Production Management. 13(1):66-71. doi:10.14488/BJOPM.2016.v13.n1.a7S667113