Master of Science / Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering / Steven Warren / Networks of low-power, in-suit, wired and wireless health sensors offer the potential to track and predict the health of astronauts engaged in extra-vehicular and in-station activities in zero- or reduced- gravity environments. Fundamental research questions exist regarding (a) types and form factors of biomedical sensors best suited for these applications, (b) optimal ways to render wired/wireless on-body networks with the objective to draw little-to-no power, and (c) means to address the wireless transmission challenges offered by a spacesuit constructed from layers of aluminized mylar. This thesis addresses elements of these research questions through the implementation of a collection of ZigBee-based wireless health monitoring devices that can potentially be integrated into a spacesuit, thereby providing continuous information regarding astronaut fatigue and state of health. Wearable biomedical devices investigated for this effort include electrocardiographs, electromyographs, pulse oximeters, inductive plethysmographs, and accelerometers/gyrometers. These ZigBee-enabled sensors will form the nodes of an in-suit ZigBee Pro network that will be used to (1) establish throughput requirements for a functional in-suit network and (2) serve as a performance baseline for future devices that employ ultra-low-power field-programmable gate arrays and micro-transceivers. Sensor devices will upload data to a ZigBee network coordinator that has the form of a pluggable USB connector. Data are currently visualized using MATLAB and LabVIEW.

The aim of this thesis is to develop a network, whose nodes communicate with the ZigBee wireless network protocol, and control this network with a PC through the Internet. One of the nodes of this network is designed to be master node. The other nodes are slave nodes. The master node can be connected to an Ethernet connected to the Internet. A PC can communicate with the master node via a specific web application over the Internet. The communication between a web server, in which the specific web application is loaded, and the master node is performed using a specific application protocol working over TCP/IP and defined in this thesis. The master node controls the slave nodes of the wireless network formed according to the commands given by the user of a PC over the Internet. The master node contains an implementation of the ZigBee stack along with a suitable application software to communicate with the slave nodes. The master node also contains an implementation of the TCP/IP stack along with a suitable application software to communicate with a web server in which the specific web application is loaded. The slave nodes contain an implementation of the ZigBee stack along with a suitable application software to communicate with the master node. For each type of node, appropriate hardware which is compliant with the software contained by that type of node is used. Each type of node uses microcontroller-based hardware.

Over the last decade, research into unmanned and autonomous vehicles has greatly increased. With applications ranging from science and exploration to humanitarian and military efforts, the rising need for autonomous vehicles demands constant innovation and growth. The Intelligent Dependable Embedded Architectures (IDEA) lab at the University of Kentucky is continually launching research oriented programs [1]. A few key projects focus on the development of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). Through this research, at the University of Kentucky, the need to develop a reliable, lightweight, node based hardware for use in light UAVs and other unmanned and autonomous vehicles became apparent. This paper addresses the design and implementation of a network processing node for light UAVs. This system utilizes a Controller Area Network (CAN) noise tolerant communications bus, a low power ZigBee Wireless Network for expanded inner plane communications and Silicon Laboratories C8051F041 microcontrollers to provide the necessary inputs/output and data processing. The final result will be a flight ready light UAV featuring distributed processing nodes to handle the servo communications and controls.

The master thesis is concerned with problem of localization of nodes in wireless sensor network WSN implemented by ZigBee technology. The thesis provide description of ZigBee architecture involving signal description. The method of evaluating coordinates basically do not depend on used measuring methods. The method  of fingerprinting is included in separated category based on only statistical processing of RSSI data. Determination of coordinates of mobile node always needs finding out range, signal time of arrival (ToA) or angle of arrival (AoA) in respect to anchors node given dimension magnitude. The author found out three possible solutions for range measuring and one solution for angle of arrival measuring useable in context of ZigBee wireless sensor network. Finally the author discuss possibilities and constraints of ZigBee network with used measuring type.

Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is an emerging multi-hop wireless network technology, and the greenhouse network monitoring system is one of the key applications of WSNs in which various parameters such as temperature, humidity, pressure and power can be monitored. Here, we aim to study the performance of a simulation-based greenhouse monitoring system. To design the greenhouse monitoring system based on WSN, we have used ZigBee-based devices (end devices, routers, coordinators, and actuators. Our proposed greenhouse monitoring network has been designed and simulated using the network simulator OPNET Modeller.The investigation is split into two; first, the aim is to find the optimal Transmit (Tx) power set out at sensor nodes and second, the focus is on studying how increasing the number of sensor nodes in the same greenhouse network will affect the overall network performance. ZigBee-based greenhouses corresponded to 4 network scenarios and are simulated using OPNET Modeller in which 22 different transmit (Tx) power (22 cases) in Scenario 1 is simulated, scenario 2, 3 and 4 estimated to 63, 126, 189 number of sensor nodes respectively. Investigating the performance of the greenhouse monitoring network performance metrics such as network load, throughput, packets sent/received and packets loss are considered to be evaluated under varied transmit (Tx) power and increasing number of sensor nodes. Out of the comprehensive studies concerning simulation results for 22 different transmit (Tx) power cases underlying the greenhouse monitoring network (Scenario1), it is found that packets sent/received and packets loss perform the best with the transmitted (Tx) power falling in a range of 0.9 mWatt to 1.0 mWatt while packet sent/received and packet loss are found to perform moderately with the transmitted (Tx) power values that lie in a range of 0.05 mWatt to 0.8 mWatt. Less than 0.05 mWatt and greater than 0.01 microWatt Tx power experience, the worst performance in terms of particularly packet dropped case. For instance, in the case of the packet dropped (not joined packet, i.e., generated at the application layer but not able to join the network due to lack of Tx power), with a Tx power of 0.01 mWatt, 384 packets dropped with a Tx power of 0.02 and 0.03 mWatt, 366 packets dropped, and with a Tx power of 0.04 and 0.05, 336 packet dropped.While increasing the number of sensor nodes, as in scenario 2, 3 and 4, dealing with sensor nodes 63, 126 and 189 correspondingly, the MAC load, MAC throughput, packet sent/received in scenario 2 are found to perform better than that of scenario 3 and scenario 4, while packet loss in scenarios 2, 3 and 4 appeared to be 15%, 12% and 83% correspondingly.

The main purpose of this project is to design and implement a system for controlling targets on a shooting range. This consists of the main control unit and some motor-turning targets. Both control unit and targets are battery powered and use wireless data transfer. This work describes the selection of the proper platform for wireless communication and design of the hardware and software part of the system in relation to low price and high reliability of the equipment. The conclusion of this work should be the system for practical use.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:56:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 RafaelleACF_DISSERT.pdf: 3862937 bytes, checksum: 6acc4a4b451409b32a954e89796aec73 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-12-20 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / Traditional irrigation projects do not locally determine the water availability in the soil. Then, irregular irrigation cycles may occur: some with insufficient amount that leads to water deficit, other with excessive watering that causes lack of oxygen in plants. Due to the nonlinear nature of this problem and the multivariable context of irrigation processes, fuzzy logic is suggested to replace commercial ON-OFF irrigation system with predefined timing. Other limitation of commercial solutions is that irrigation processes either consider the different watering needs throughout plant growth cycles or the climate changes. In order to fulfill location based agricultural needs, it is indicated to monitor environmental data using wireless sensors connected to an intelligent control system. This is more evident in applications as precision agriculture. This work presents the theoretical and experimental development of a fuzzy system to implement a spatially differentiated control of an irrigation system, based on soil moisture measurement with wireless sensor nodes. The control system architecture is modular: a fuzzy supervisor determines the soil moisture set point of each sensor node area (according to the soil-plant set) and another fuzzy system, embedded in the sensor node, does the local control and actuates in the irrigation system. The fuzzy control system was simulated with SIMULINK? programming tool and was experimentally built embedded in mobile device SunSPOTTM operating in ZigBee. Controller models were designed and evaluated in different combinations of input variables and inference rules base / Projetos de irriga??o tradicionais n?o determinam localmente a disponibilidade de ?gua no solo. Assim, podem ocorrer ciclos irregulares de irriga??o: alguns insuficientes, o que provoca d?ficit de ?gua; outros em demasia, o que causa falta de oxigena??o nas plantas. Devido ? natureza n?o-linear do problema e do ambiente multivari?vel de processos de irriga??o, a l?gica fuzzy ? sugerida como substituta aos sistemas comerciais de irriga??o tipo ON-OFF com temporiza??o pr?-definida. Outra limita??o das solu??es comerciais ? que os processos de irriga??o n?o atendem ?s diferentes necessidades h?dricas dos ciclos de crescimento das culturas nem ?s mudan?as nas vari?veis clim?ticas. Dessa maneira, para atender necessidades agr?colas baseadas em localiza??o, ? indicado monitorar dados ambientais usando sensores sem fio, interligados a um sistema de controle inteligente. Isso ? mais evidente em aplica??es de agricultura de precis?o. Este trabalho apresenta o desenvolvimento te?rico e experimental de um sistema de controle fuzzy espacialmente diferenciado para um sistema de irriga??o, baseado no sensoriamento da umidade do solo com n?s sensores sem fio. A arquitetura do sistema de controle ? modular: um sistema supervis?rio fuzzy determina o set point de umidade do solo da regi?o de atua??o do n? sensor (de acordo com o conjunto solo-plantaclima) e outro fuzzy, embarcado no n? sensor, faz o controle local e atua no sistema de irriga??o. O sistema de controle fuzzy foi simulado com a ferramenta de programa??o SIMULINK? e foi constru?do experimentalmente como sistema embarcado em um dispositivo m?vel SunSPOTTM operando com ZigBee. Modelos de controladores foram desenvolvidos e avaliados em diferentes combina??es de vari?veis de entrada e base de regras de infer?ncia

The object of this thesis is an analysis of the possibilities of a wireless communication and a sensor‘s equipment for a four legged walking robot. The thesis is divided into three parts. In the first part there is a particular sale’s exploration in the section of the wireless communication modules. It refers to the differences among technologies in the methods of signal transmission, the technical parameters but also in the communication protocols. The next part of this thesis is focused on sensor’s equipment with the accent on the possibility of use for a four legged walking robot. It contains a short listing of sensors, which are available in the Czech Republic with division based on the type of sensing magnitude. These two parts make a base for the last part where I have chosen suitable communication modules along with sensors and realization wireless data transfer including control and visualization. The result of this thesis is the complete communication block from the user to the robot.

Les besoins de nouveaux services dans les rames ferroviaires ( le comptage, l’efficience énergétique, le confort et la sécurité des passagers etc.), risquent de saturer à terme les systèmes de communication filaires mis en place il y a une vingtaine d’années. Les réseaux de capteurs sans fil, par leurs avantages (déploiement facile, capacité à s’adapter à plusieurs types d’environnements, faible consommation d’énergie), ouvrent de nombreuses perspectives pour les systèmes de gestion énergétique. Le but de ce travail de thèse est d’étudier et mettre en oeuvre un réseau de capteurs sans fil à l’intérieur des trains pour l’efficience énergétique. Ainsi, quelques protocoles de communication dédiés à la gestion énergétique ont été présentés puis une étude comparative des différents réseaux de communication sans fil réalisée. Cette étude comparative a permis de faire le choix du réseau ZigBee comme étant le plus adéquat pour la plateforme. L’architecture hybride proposée permet l’utilisation du réseau IP existant comme colonne vertébrale de l’ensemble des réseaux ZigBee. Afin de tenir compte de l’effet de l’environnement ferroviaire dans la planification et le déploiement du réseau, une étude du canal de propagation, basée sur des mesures réalisées dans un métro et un wagon de RER a été menée. L’impact de la coexistence entre le ZigBee et le WiFi et de la présence humaine sur la communication du réseau sans fil a été démontré. Le prototype d’une plateforme basée sur le réseau ZigBee allant de la collecte des données à l’affichage des informations a été réalisé et testé. / The need of new services in railway trains (services for metering, energy efficiency, the comfort and safety of users etc.) may eventually saturate the wired communication systems installed since twenty years ago years. The several advantages of wireless sensor networks (easy deployment, ability to adapt on different environments and low energy consumption) offer many possibilities for energy management systems. The aim of this thesis is to study and implement a wireless network sensors inside trains for energy efficiency. Thus, some communication protocols dedicated to energy management were presented and then a comparative study of the various wireless communication networks carried out. This comparative study shows that the ZigBee network is the most suitable for the platform. The proposed hybrid architecture allows the use of the existing IP network as the backbone of all ZigBee networks. In order to take into account the effect of the railway environment in the planning and deployment of the network, a study of the propagation channel was carried out, based on measurements realized in a subway and a RER car. The impact of the coexistence between ZigBee and WiFi and of the human presence on wireless communication have been demonstrated. The prototype of a platform based on the ZigBee network, allows data collection, informations traitement and monitoring, was carried out.

This Master’s thesis deals with design and construction of a wireless security and surveillance system in ZigBee wireless networks (IEEE802.15.4). The design consists of creating a star network topology with intended monitoring of home area via end device boards paired with coordinator board, which provides basic networking functionality. End device is used to send data from a temperature sensor DS1631 and magnetic reed switches to coordinator. ZigBee module ZDM-A1281-A2 made by MeshNetics company embedded on each board contains a micro controller ATMega1281 and a transceiver AT86RF230 working in a 2,4GHz frequency band. System is able to notice of any door or window move actions and too high temperature. The non-fully functional ZigBee stack, which is called an Open MAC software, based on MAC (Media Access Control ) layer and PHY (Physical) layer from MeshNetics, has been used to develop the user software. Open MAC consists of three application samples in C code. One of them was modified by the user for an application of communication between the module and sensors. The same design with module RC2204AT made by Radiocrafts company was tested as well, but it couldn’t be executed. All developed boards have been constructed and tested via Terminal PC program.