Wireless Data Acquisition For Apiology Applications

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), a disease affecting honey bee colonies, is a problem threatening the food security and economy of the entire world. Discovering the cause of CCD is particularly difficult because of the variety of colony locations and environmental variables. In addition, CCD instances do not tend to follow an easily recognizable pattern with respect to apiary conditions, which is exacerbated by the subjective nature of manual apiary data recording methods. Traditional monitoring methods are typically too expensive for wide-scale deployment and often require manual collection of the data, reducing the quantity of data available for analysis. A general wireless data acquisition system was designed to improve the quantity and quality of data and to explore general issues related to wireless data acquisition systems. The system was constructed using off-the-shelf -components to reduce cost. The acquisition system and data management tools were programmed using freely available tools and software. Beehive data are transmitted to the Internet wirelessly through the use of a cellular GSM modem. Results show that it is feasible to build an economical, general purpose wireless data acquisition system that can gather quality data for an Apiology application with similar capabilities to higher-cost contemporary systems

Sensor web geoprocessing on the grid

Recent standardisation initiatives in the fields of grid computing and geospatial sensor middleware provide an exciting opportunity for the composition of large scale geospatial monitoring and prediction systems from existing components. Sensor middleware standards are paving the way for the emerging sensor web which is envisioned to make millions of geospatial sensors and their data publicly accessible by providing discovery, task and query functionality over the internet. In a similar fashion, concurrent development is taking place in the field of grid computing whereby the virtualisation of computational and data storage resources using middleware abstraction provides a framework to share computing resources. Sensor web and grid computing share a common vision of world-wide connectivity and in their current form they are both realised using web services as the underlying technological framework. The integration of sensor web and grid computing middleware using open standards is expected to facilitate interoperability and scalability in near real-time geoprocessing systems. The aim of this thesis is to develop an appropriate conceptual and practical framework in which open standards in grid computing, sensor web and geospatial web services can be combined as a technological basis for the monitoring and prediction of geospatial phenomena in the earth systems domain, to facilitate real-time decision support. The primary topic of interest is how real-time sensor data can be processed on a grid computing architecture. This is addressed by creating a simple typology of real-time geoprocessing operations with respect to grid computing architectures. A geoprocessing system exemplar of each geoprocessing operation in the typology is implemented using contemporary tools and techniques which provides a basis from which to validate the standards frameworks and highlight issues of scalability and interoperability. It was found that it is possible to combine standardised web services from each of these aforementioned domains despite issues of interoperability resulting from differences in web service style and security between specifications. A novel integration method for the continuous processing of a sensor observation stream is suggested in which a perpetual processing job is submitted as a single continuous compute job. Although this method was found to be successful two key challenges remain; a mechanism for consistently scheduling real-time jobs within an acceptable time-frame must be devised and the tradeoff between efficient grid resource utilisation and processing latency must be balanced. The lack of actual implementations of distributed geoprocessing systems built using sensor web and grid computing has hindered the development of standards, tools and frameworks in this area. This work provides a contribution to the small number of existing implementations in this field by identifying potential workflow bottlenecks in such systems and gaps in the existing specifications. Furthermore it sets out a typology of real-time geoprocessing operations that are anticipated to facilitate the development of real-time geoprocessing software.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceEngineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) : School of Civil Engineering & Geosciences, Newcastle UniversityGBUnited Kingdo

Development and Evaluation of a Software System for Fire Risk Prediction

Masteroppgave i Programutvikling samarbeid med HVLPROG399MAMN-PRO

Diseño, construcción, monitorización y control de un módulo prototipo de edificación para ensayo de nuevos componentes y sistemas

In view of the difficulties with implementing the innovative components and systems conceived in the I3CON project on a dwelled building (because of their early stage of development), one of the main demonstration activities was building a Mock-up module to test the feasibility (in terms of physical integration and logical interoperability) of these components and systems, and evaluate their overall performance. The design of all the systems involved in the Mock-up has the aim to develop new and more efficient solutions for the common issues in housing and, at the same time, to allow the evaluation of these systems. The values to be measured and monitored are: water (hot and cold), electricity and energy consumptions; temperature (ambient and surface) and relative humidity degree, both indoor and outdoor; presence; water temperature and flow; CO2 concentration; and light level. This is done by means of a network of sensors, meters and actuators deployed throughout the Mock-up. The following components and systems have been developed by I3CON partners and are implemented in the Mock-up, namely: - Façade panels, by Dragados (DRA). - Electro-chromic windows, by Saint-Gobain Recherche (SGR). - Under-floor radiant heating, Water saving system and Domestic fire extinguishing system, by Uponor (UPO). - Multi-service trunking system, by the University of Loughborough (LOU). - Wireless sensor network, by Thales Research & Technologies (TRT). All these systems are controlled by the Building Operating System (BOS) developed by Lonix (LON). Besides, all that information handled by the BOS can be accessed through Mobile Productivity Tools developed by Intracom (ICOM) for carrying out operation and maintenance tasks. Regarding the architectural design of the Mock-up, the innovative effort has been aimed to the development of new prefabricated façade solutions adapting current manufacturing processes, such as the “Sandwich Framex” typology, and the improvement in the thermal and acoustical behaviour of the Mock-up envelope with passive strategies, e.g. by using Phase Change Materials (PCMs) or vegetation. The façade panels of the Mock-up were made up according to one of the following structural configurations, all of them making use of Glass-fibre Reinforced Concrete (GRC): - GRC Stud-frame: GRC shell attached to a metallic frame. Two panels feature this solution, with a special plasterboard interior sheathing enhanced with PCM micro-capsules whose behaviour will be compared to that of a conventional one. - GRC Sandwich: panel anchored to the main structure by means of cast-in channels and sliding bolt connections to accommodate the assembly tolerances. The innermost surface features a special pattern to improve the acoustical behaviour by diminishing the reverberation time. The outmost surface is covered with different kinds of light composite panels for aesthetics reasons. - Sandwich Framex: it is an evolution which comprises “indoor sandwich + metallic frame + external elements”. One of the main advantages of the Sandwich Framex is the flexibility of the external cladding, which may consist of a great variety of elements configured in a modular way over a common sub-structure (the steel frame) and can be installed so that they can be easily disassembled for maintenance or upgrade. Different external elements have been selected in response both to bio-climatic concepts and architectural trends, among others: photo-voltaic cells, vegetated modules and a variety of composite/laminated panels. Two of the Mock-up façades which are configured with this solution include, besides, PCM packed in plastic boxes within the sandwich core, in order to improve thermal behaviour. For the sake of a better thermal efficiency, visual comfort (in terms of glare) and privacy, an Electro-Chromic Glazing Unit (ECGU) has been provided in one of the Mock-up rooms. The ECGU is fitted into a standard window frame allowing electrical power and control cabling. The ECGU makes possible certain degrees of shading that are controlled by the BOS according to solar irradiance, presence and indoor temperature, and operated in conjunction with the HVAC system thanks to the integration of all the systems within the BOS. The Water Saving System consists in re-circulating the hot water only when it is needed. The system is connected to the sensor network in the building, and is activated whenever a person is within a predetermined area (kitchen or bathroom) or the water temperature inside the pipes is lower than a set value. Thanks to this solution, less water is wasted and there is less waiting time for hot water to be delivered. The Domestic Fire Extinguisher System stands out for its simplicity: the water supply for the toilet cistern passes through the sprinklers. Thus, every time the toilet is flushed, confirmation is provided that there is no impediment for the water to flow (e.g. incrustations due to hard water) and therefore the system would work if a fire started. The Under-Floor Heating (UFH) system has been installed over the floor concrete slab. Its main virtue is its reduced installation height which makes it especially suitable for renovation works. The use of Cross-linked Polyethylene (PEX) pipes for these systems, installed using the “pipe-in-pipe” method, facilitates the renovation of the pipes given the case. The Multi-Services Trunking System (MSTS) is a very innovative concept that comprises a set of runs for different kinds of media incorporated within a single vertical major artery and horizontal distribution nodes. The MSTS has been manufactured using rapid prototyping techniques, and a small portion has been installed in the Mock-up for proving the concept, delivering hot and cold water, air and electricity. Concerning the monitoring and control of the Mock-up, the following inputs are studied: - Consumptions measured with metering devices: Cold and hot water; Electricity. - Parameters measured by the WSN: CO2 concentration; Presence by means of Passive Infra-Red (PIR) technology; Relative Humidity (RH) degree; Light level; and Indoor ambient temperature. There is a gateway that converts the radio messages transmitted by the sensors into TCP/IP messages accessible from the BOS. - Sensors deployed at different layers of the façade panels: Ambient and surface temperatures; Relative humidity degree. They are intended to assess the overall performance of the envelope system, with a focus on the effect of PCMs and vegetation. - Parameters measured with wired sensors: Presence; Light level; Water temperature and flow in the pipes; and Ambient and surface temperature (indoor and outdoor). Based on the information gathered by the sensor network, the BOS controls the Mock-up handling the following signals: Readings from the metering devices; Inputs from the sensors located in the kitchen, the bathroom and the test rooms; Data from the HVAC and UFH systems (controlled individually for each room to allow comparisons between them), the heat pump and the water pumps (for consumption simulation); Signals from the façade panels’ temperature and relative humidity degree sensors. Remote access to the Mock-up monitoring and control systems is very important for the measurement plans. Internet connection plays an important role for accessing the data and carrying out dwelling usage simulations. Furthermore, the application of Mobile Productivity Tools (MPTs), for example a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) carried out by the maintenance staff, makes possible that any relevant information about the equipment installed in the building (i.e. the Mock-up), such as the assembly drawings, location in the building lay-out, and any data accessible from the BOS, will be available in real time for the operator working on site. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________En vista de las dificultades para implementar los innovadores componentes y sistemas concebidos en el proyecto I3CON en una vivienda habitada (debido a su temprano estado de desarrollo), una de las actividades principales de demostración fue construir un Módulo prototipo para ensayar la viabilidad (en términos de integración física e inter-operatividad lógica) de estos componentes y sistemas y evaluar su comportamiento global. El diseño de todos los sistemas del Módulo tiene como objetivo desarrollar nuevas y más eficientes soluciones a problemas comunes en vivienda y, al mismo tiempo, permitir la evaluación de dichos sistemas. Los valores a medir y monitorizar son: consumos de agua (caliente y fría), electricidad y energía; temperatura (ambiente y superficial) y grado de humedad relativo, tanto interior como exterior; presencia; temperatura y flujo de agua; concentración de CO2; y nivel de luz. Esto se hace mediante una red de sensores, contadores y actuadores desplegados a lo largo del Módulo. Los siguientes componentes y sistemas han sido desarrollados por socios de I3CON e implementados en el Módulo, a saber: - Paneles de fachada, por Dragados (DRA). - Ventanas electro-crómicas, por Saint-Gobain Recherche (SGR). - Calefacción por suelo radiante, Sistema de ahorro de agua y Sistema doméstico de extinción de incendios, por Uponor (UPO). - Sistema de conductos multi-servicio, por la Universidad de Loughborough (LOU). - Red de sensores inalámbricos, por Thales Research & Technologies (TRT). Todos estos sistemas se controlan mediante el Sistema Operativo del Edificio (BOS) desarrollado por Lonix (LON). Además, a toda esa información manejada por el BOS puede accederse a través de las Herramientas de Productividad Móviles de Intracom (ICOM) para operación y mantenimiento. Respecto al diseño arquitectónico del Módulo, el esfuerzo innovador se ha centrado en el desarrollo de nuevas soluciones de fachada prefabricada adaptando procesos de fabricación existentes, tales como la tipología “Sándwich Framex”, y en la mejora del comportamiento térmico y acústico de los cerramientos del Módulo mediante estrategias pasivas, e.g. usando Materiales de Cambio de Fase (PCMs) o vegetación. Los paneles de fachada del Módulo se configuraron según alguna de las siguientes soluciones estructurales, todas ellas usando Hormigón Reforzado con fibra de Vidrio (GRC): GRC Stud-frame: cáscara de GRC unida a un bastidor metálico. Dos paneles se configuran con esta solución, con la particularidad de un trasdosado interior de yeso-cartón con micro-cápsulas de PCM cuyo comportamiento se comparará con el de uno convencional. - GRC Sándwich: panel anclado a la estructura principal por medio de carriles embebidos y tornillería deslizante para acomodar las tolerancias de ensamblaje. La cara interior lleva un patrón especial para mejorar el comportamiento acústico disminuyendo el tiempo de reverberación. La cara exterior se termina con diferentes paneles ligeros de material compuesto por motivos estéticos. - Sándwich Framex: es una evolución que consiste en “sándwich interno + bastidor metálico + elementos externos”. Una de las principales ventajas del Sándwich Framex es la flexibilidad para los acabados exteriores, que pueden consistir en un gran variedad de elementos modulares sobre una sub-estructura común (el bastidor metálico) y ser instalados de manera que sean fácilmente desmontables para mantenimiento o renovación. Se han seleccionado distintos elementos exteriores en respuesta a conceptos bio-climáticos y tendencias arquitectónicas, entre otros: células foto-voltaicas, módulos vegetados y varios paneles de material compuesto/laminados. Dos fachadas del Módulo con esta solución incluyen además PCM empaquetado en contenedores de plástico dentro del núcleo del sándwich para mejorar el comportamiento térmico. En aras de una mejor eficiencia térmica, confort visual (deslumbramiento) y privacidad, se ha provisto una Unidad de Acristalamiento Electro-Crómico (ECGU) en uno de los recintos del Módulo. La ECGU se instala en una carpintería estándar que permita el cableado eléctrico y de control. La ECGU permite ciertos grados de oscurecimiento que se controlan por el BOS en función de la irradiación solar, presencia y temperatura interior, y se opera junto con el sistema de climatización gracias a la integración de todos los sistemas en el BOS. El Sistema de Ahorro de Agua consiste en recircular el agua caliente sólo cuando es necesario. El sistema está conectado a la red de sensores del edificio y se activa cuando una persona está dentro de un área determinada (cocina o baño) o si el agua de las tuberías baja de una cierta temperatura. Gracias a esta solución se desperdicia menos agua y hay que esperar menos tiempo a que salga agua caliente. El Sistema Doméstico de Extinción de Incendios destaca por su simplicidad: el agua que va a la cisterna pasa a través de los rociadores. Así, cada vez que se tira de la cadena, se confirma que no hay ningún impedimento al flujo de agua (e.g. incrustaciones de cal) y por lo tanto el sistema funcionaría si se iniciase un incendio. La Calefacción por Suelo Radiante (UFH) se ha instalado sobre el forjado de hormigón. Su principal virtud es su reducida altura, que lo hace especialmente indicado para rehabilitaciones. El uso de tuberías de Polietileno Reticulado (PEX) para estos sistemas, empleando el método de “tubo-en-tubo”, facilita su renovación llegado el caso. El Sistema de Conductos Multi-Servicio (MSTS) es un concepto muy innovador que consta de un conjunto de canalizaciones para distintos medios agrupados en una única arteria vertical y nodos de distribución horizontal. El MSTS se ha fabricado con técnicas de prototipado rápido y se ha instalado un pequeño segmento en el Módulo para demostrar el concepto, distribuyendo agua fría y caliente, aire y electricidad. En cuanto a la monitorización y control del Módulo, se estudian las siguientes entradas: - Consumos medidos con contadores: Agua fría y caliente; Energía eléctrica. - Parámetros medidos por la WSN: CO2; Presencia con tecnología Pasiva Infra-Roja (PIR); Grado de Humedad Relativa (RH); Nivel de luz; y Temperatura ambiente interior. Hay una pasarela que convierte los mensajes de radio transmitidos por los sensores en mensajes TCP/IP accesibles desde el BOS. - Sensores desplegados en las diferentes capas de las fachadas: Temperaturas ambiente y superficial; Grado de humedad relativa. Se pretende evaluar el comportamiento global del cerramiento, en especial el efecto de los PCMs y la vegetación. - Parámetros medidos con sensores cableados: Presencia; Nivel de luz; Temperatura y flujo de agua en las tuberías; y Temperaturas ambiente y superficial (interior y exterior). Basándose en la información recogida por la red de sensores, el BOS controla el Módulo manejando las siguientes señales: Lecturas de los aparatos contadores; Entradas de los sensores ubicados en cocina, baño y las habitaciones de ensayo; Datos de los sistemas de climatización y suelo radiante (controlados individualmente en cada habitación para poder hacer comparaciones), de la bomba de calor y las de agua (para simular consumos); Señales de temperatura y humedad relativa de los paneles de fachada. El acceso remoto a los sistemas de monitorización y control del Módulo es muy importante para el plan de medidas. La conexión a internet juega un papel fundamental para acceder a los datos y simular el uso de la vivienda. Además, la aplicación de Herramientas de Productividad Móviles (MPTs), por ejemplo una PDA que lleve el personal de mantenimiento, posibilita que información relevante acerca de los equipos instalados en el edificio (esto es, del Módulo), tales como dibujos de montaje, localización en el plano del edificio, y cualquier dato accesible desde el BOS, esté disponible en tiempo real para el operario trabajando en el sitio.Ingeniería Industria

A Mixed Reality Approach to 3D Interactive Prototyping for Participatory Design of Ambient Intelligence

Ambient Intelligence (AmI in short) is a multi-disciplinary approach aimed at enriching physical environments with a network of distributed devices in order to support humans in achieving their everyday goals. However, in current research and development, AmI is still largely considered within the engineering domain bearing undeveloped relationship with architecture. The fact that architecture design substantially aims to address the requirements of supporting people in carrying out their everyday life activities, tasks and practices with spatial strategies. These are common to the AmI’s objectives and purposes, and we aim at considering the possibilities or even necessities of investigating the potential design approach accessible to an architectural context. For end users, AmI is a new type of service. Designing and evaluating the AmI experience before resources are spent on designing the processes and technology needed to eventually run the service can save large amounts of time and money. Therefore, it is essential to create an environment in which designers can involve real people in trying out the service design proposals as early as possible in the design process. Existing cases related to stakeholder engaged design of AmI have primarily focused on engineering implementation and generally only present final outcome to stakeholders for user evaluation. Researchers have been able to build AmI prototypes for design communication. However, most of these prototypes are typically built without the involvement of stakeholders and architects in their conceptual design stage. Using concepts solely designed by engineers may not be user centric and even contain safety risks. The key research question of this thesis is: “How can Ambient Intelligence be designed through a participatory process that involves stakeholders and prospective users?" The thesis consists of the following five components: 1) Identification of a novel participatory design process for modelling AmI scenarios; 2) Identification of the requirements to support prototyping of AmI design, resulting in a conceptual framework that both "lowers the floor" (i.e. making it easier for designers to build the AmI prototypes) and "raises the ceiling" (i.e. increasing the ability of stakeholders and end users to participate in the design process deeply); i 3) Prototyping an experimental Mixed Reality Modelling (MRM in short) platform to facilitate the participatory design of AmI that supports the requirements, design process, and scenarios prototyping; 4) Case study of applying MRM platform to participatory design of a Smart Laser Cutting Workshop(LCW in short) which used to evaluate the proposed MRM based AmI design approach. The result of the research shows that the MRM based participatory design approach is able to support the design of AmI effectively

Applications of Antenna Technology in Sensors

During the past few decades, information technologies have been evolving at a tremendous rate, causing profound changes to our world and to our ways of living. Emerging applications have opened u[ new routes and set new trends for antenna sensors. With the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT), the adaptation of antenna technologies for sensor and sensing applications has become more important. Now, the antennas must be reconfigurable, flexible, low profile, and low-cost, for applications from airborne and vehicles, to machine-to-machine, IoT, 5G, etc. This reprint aims to introduce and treat a series of advanced and emerging topics in the field of antenna sensors

Photovoltaics and Electrification in Agriculture

Integration of photovoltaics and electrification in agriculture. Works on the integration of photovoltaics in agriculture, as well as electrification and microgrids in agriculture. In addition, some works on sustainability in agriculture are added

Translucent Middleware Approach to Facilitate WSN Access Management

Recent advances in wireless communications have motivated the development of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) for low-cost and easy-deployable physical and environmental monitoring. WSNs were typically accessible only through special WSN nodes acting as WSN data sinks and gateways towards standard IP-based networks. The recent diffusion of low-power IP network protocol implementations has (potentially) made all WSN nodes directly reachable over IP. However, the wide variety of communication platforms makes it difficult to glue together different access types. We propose an original solution for WSN gateway-/IP-based access integration based on the primary design guideline of exploiting a proxy component to facilitate WSN access management. Our proposal is fully compliant with latest communication standards and adopts a novel (translucent) approach to enable either fully-transparent or fully-aware WSN access control. Our experimental results show good data delivery performances with different WSN access types and evaluate the cost of our management support

MediaSync: Handbook on Multimedia Synchronization

This book provides an approachable overview of the most recent advances in the fascinating field of media synchronization (mediasync), gathering contributions from the most representative and influential experts. Understanding the challenges of this field in the current multi-sensory, multi-device, and multi-protocol world is not an easy task. The book revisits the foundations of mediasync, including theoretical frameworks and models, highlights ongoing research efforts, like hybrid broadband broadcast (HBB) delivery and users' perception modeling (i.e., Quality of Experience or QoE), and paves the way for the future (e.g., towards the deployment of multi-sensory and ultra-realistic experiences). Although many advances around mediasync have been devised and deployed, this area of research is getting renewed attention to overcome remaining challenges in the next-generation (heterogeneous and ubiquitous) media ecosystem. Given the significant advances in this research area, its current relevance and the multiple disciplines it involves, the availability of a reference book on mediasync becomes necessary. This book fills the gap in this context. In particular, it addresses key aspects and reviews the most relevant contributions within the mediasync research space, from different perspectives. Mediasync: Handbook on Multimedia Synchronization is the perfect companion for scholars and practitioners that want to acquire strong knowledge about this research area, and also approach the challenges behind ensuring the best mediated experiences, by providing the adequate synchronization between the media elements that constitute these experiences