Energy-efficient routing algorithms based on swarm intelligence for wireless sensor networks

High efficient routing is an important factor to be considered in the design of limited energy resource Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). WSN environment has limited resources in terms of on-board energy, transmission power, processing, and storage, and this prompt for careful resource management and new routing protocol so as to counteract the challenges. This work first introduces the concept of wireless sensor networks, routing in WSNs, and its design factors as they affect routing protocols. Next, a comprehensive review of the most prominent routing protocols in WSN, from the classical routing protocols to swarm intelligence based protocols is presented. From the literature study, it was found that comparing routing protocols in WSNs is currently a very challenging task for protocol designers. Often, much time is required to re-create and re-simulate algorithms from descriptions in published papers to perform the comparison. Compounding the difficulty is that some simulation parameters and performance metrics may not be mentioned. We then see a need in the research community to have standard simulation and performance metrics for comparing different protocols. To this end, we re-simulate different protocols using a Matlab based simulator; Routing Modeling Application Simulation Environment (RMASE), and gives simulation results for standard simulation and performance metrics which we hope will serve as a benchmark for future comparisons for the research community. Also, from the literature study, Energy Efficient Ant-Based Routing (EEABR) protocol was found to be the most efficient protocol due to its low energy consumption and low memory usage in WSNs nodes. Following this efficient protocol, an Improved Energy Efficient Ant-Based Routing (IEEABR) Protocol was proposed. Simulation were performed using Network Simulator-2 (NS-2), and from the results, our proposed algorithm performs better in terms of energy utilization efficiency, average energy of network nodes, and minimum energy of nodes. We further improved on the proposed protocol and simulation performed in another well-known WSNs MATLAB-based simulator; Routing Modeling Application Simulation Environment (RMASE), using static, mobile and dynamic scenario. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm increases energy efficiency by up to 9% and 64% in converge-cast and target-tracking scenarios, respectively, over the original EEABR and also found to out-perform other four Ant-based routing protocols. We further show how this algorithm could be used for energy management in sensor network in the presence of energy harvesters. However, high number of control packets is generated by the IEEABR due to the proactive nature of its path establishment. As such, a new routing protocol for WSNs that has less control packets due to its on-demand (reactive) nature is proposed. This new routing protocol termed Termite-hill is borrowed from the principles behind the termite’s mode of communication. We first study the foraging principles of a termite colony and utilize the inspirational concepts to develop a distributed, simple and energy-efficient routing protocol for WSNs. We perform simulation studies to compare the behavior and performance of the Termite-hill design with an existing classical and on-demand protocol (AODV) and other Swarm Intelligence (SI) based WSN protocols in both static, dynamic and mobility scenarios of WSN. The simulation results demonstrate that Termite-hill outperforms its competitors in most of the assumed scenarios and metrics with less latency. Further studies show that the current practice in modeling and simulation of wireless sensor network (WSN) environments has been towards the development of functional WSN systems for event gathering, and optimization of the necessary performance metrics using heuristics and intuition. The evaluation and validation are mostly done using simulation approaches and practical implementations. Simulation studies, despite their wide use and merits of network systems and algorithm validation, have some drawbacks like long simulation times, and practical implementation might be cost ineffective if the system is not properly studied before the design. We therefore argue that simulation based validation and practical implementation of WSN systems and environments should be further strengthened through mathematical analysis. To conclude this work and to gain more insight on the behavior of the termite-hill routing algorithm, we developed our modeling framework for WSN topology and information extraction in a grid based and line based randomly distributed sensor network. We strengthen the work with a model of the effect of node mobility on energy consumption of Termite-hill routing algorithm as a function of event success rate and occasional change in topology. The results of our mathematical analysis were also compared with the simulation results

Design and Implementation of a Short Message Service Based Remote Controller

Safeguarding our home appliances has become an issue when dealing with an advancement and growth of an economy. This research focuses on the controlling of home appliances remotely when the user is away from the house. The system is Short Message Service (SMS) based and uses wireless technology to revolutionize the standards of living. It provides ideal solution to certain problems faced by home owners in daily life. Due to its wireless nature, it is more adaptable and cost-effective. The research is divided into two sections; the hardware and the software sections. The hardware section consists of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) modem module, The Control module, the Appliance module, the Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) module and the power supply module. The GSM modem receives the message sent by the person who wishes to operate any of the connected appliances, it then forwards it to the microcontroller, and the microcontroller decodes the message, switches on or switches off the appropriate appliance, updates the LCD and sends a feedback to the mobile phone via the GSM modem. Overall, the work employs The ATmega16 microcontroller, relays, a programmer to program the microcontroller, a mobile phones and a GSM modem. The AT commands is used to handle communication between the modem and the ATmega16 microcontroller. Flow code is used for the programming of the microcontroller. The overall work was implemented with a constructed work, tested working and perfectly functional.Keywords: Short Message Service, Global System for Mobile Communications, Remote Control, Electronic Circuit Design

Design and Implementation of a Generator Power Sensor and Shutdown Timer

This research is on the design and construction of a generator shutdown timer; an electronic device that automatically turns off electric generator after a specified period of duty hours. A microcontroller Atmega8 is used, which makes the entire circuitry compact, more flexible, efficient and reliable. The microcontroller program is written in C programming language using AVR studio4 and the circuit simulation using Proteus. This circuitry does not only control the timing operation of electric generators, but also possesses the ability to sense power restoration (from the utility power supply) and respond by switching off the generator. Power handling capacity of the circuit is estimated to be 1760W. Keywords: Power Sensor, Shutdown Timer, Atmega8, AVR Studio, Proteus VSM

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A DIRECTIONAL OBJECT SENSING AND RANGING SYSTEM

The research provides a security system that achieves automatic object sensing detection at a given radius range from the security system. This system provides an automatic detection of intrusion into a restricted property. An ultrasonic range sensor and a stepper motor are interfaced with a microcontroller. The range sensor is mounted on top of a stepper motor which rotates about its axis continuously, and emits a burst of energy until reflected off of an object. When the range sensor senses an object, the angle of the stepper motor at the instance of object detection is recorded by the microcontroller and displayed on a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) along with the object distance. Because of the rotational motion of the sensing system, it can be concluded that this system is quite different in its approach to security issues as compared to similar ones that which are just stationed in a fixed point and meant to detect obstacle or intrusion from a particular direction. Keyword: Directional Object, Ultrasonic Range Sensor, Stepper Motor, Detectio

A SIMPLE AND RELIABLE TOUCH SENSITIVE SECURITY SYSTEM

ABSTRAC

Performance of Synchronous Reluctance Generators with Series and Shunt Stator Connections

This paper reports the performance of series- and shunt-connected self-excited reluctance generators (SERG). In addition to the two stator connections, an analysis was carried out on rotor configurations (with and without a cage) a combination resulting in four different generator topologies. The loss of load and transient characteristics of each generator configuration were studied for a combination of pure resistive and R-L loads. It is shown that for the same machine size, speed and exciting capacitor value, the generator with a cage preserves a better wave shape following a transient disturbance than the cageless machine. At unity power factor, shunt generator with cage can deliver 0.691pu output power, at 1.97% regulation; its series counterpart only delivers 0.589 pu at 2.05%. The study demonstrates that while shunt generators have better regulation and supports higher loads at different power factors, series generators show a superior performance in terms of damping out transients

A photovoltaic system using supercapacitor energy storage for power equilibrium and voltage stability

In a photovoltaic system, a stable voltage and of tolerable power equilibrium is needed. Hence, a dedicated analog charge controller for a storage system which controls energy flow to impose power equilibrium, and therefore, voltage stability on the load is required. We demonstrate here our successful design considerations employing supercapacitors as main energy storage as well as a buffer in a standalone photovoltaic system, incorporating a dedicated supercapacitor charge controller for the first time. Firstly, we demonstrated a photovoltaic system employing supercapacitors as main energy storage as well as a buffer in a standalone photovoltaic system. Secondly, we design a constant voltage maximum power point tracker (MPPT) for peak power extraction from the photovoltaic generator. Thirdly, we incorporated a supercapacitor charge controller for power equilibrium and voltage stability through a dedicated analog charge controller in our design, the first of its kind. Fourthly, we analyzed the use of supercapacitor storage to mitigate disequilibrium between power supply and demands, which, in turn, causes overvoltage or under voltage across the load. Lastly, we then went ahead to demonstrate the control of the energy flow in the system so as to maintain rated voltage across a variant demand load

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A DIRECTIONAL OBJECT SENSING AND RANGING SYSTEM

The research provides a security system that achieves automatic object sensing detection at a given radius range from the security system. This system provides an automatic detection of intrusion into a restricted property. An ultrasonic range sensor and a stepper motor are interfaced with a microcontroller. The range sensor is mounted on top of a stepper motor which rotates about its axis continuously, and emits a burst of energy until reflected off of an object. When the range sensor senses anobject, the angle of the stepper motor at the instance of object detection is recorded by the microcontroller and displayed on a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) along with the object distance. Because of the rotational motion of the sensing system,it can beconcluded that this system is quite different in its approach to security issues as compared to similar ones that which are just stationed in a fixed point and meant to detect obstacle or intrusion from a particular directio