The testing of unmanned vehicles presents a need for an independent device capable of accurately collecting position and orientation data. While commercial-off-the-shelf components could be pieced together to sense and record this information, this is an expensive, large, and heavy solution, not suitable for small or aerial vehicles. The micro wireless instrumented payload, or μWIP, was designed precisely for this purpose. The μWIP includes a GPS receiver, 3-axis accelerometer, 3-axis gyroscope, and 3-axis magnetometer which are used to measure an unmanned vehicle's position and orientation. The device also uses a secure digital card for data storage, and an 802.11b module to provide wireless connectivity. Additionally, the μWIP contains a on-board battery and the circuitry required to charge it. Firmware for the ARM7 processor was written to allow sensor calibration and data transmission, and a user interface was designed to run on a personal computer. The finished design is a tiny 3''x5''x1'', and weighs a mere 0.8 pounds including battery and antennas. It is capable of continuously streaming accurate GPS and inertial data over an 802.11b wireless network for over 5 hours. Having a bill of materials cost just over $600, the μWIP is also more cost effective than any alternative solutions. This thesis details the hardware and software design of the μWIP, as well as the initial testing, calibration, and evaluation of the device. / Master of Science

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:56:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 CarloFPSC.pdf: 941846 bytes, checksum: 5fe2e2c9851039018a0653de693d001c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-11-27 / Wireless sensor networks are reality nowadays. The growing necessity of connectivity between existing industrial plant equipments pushes the research and development of several technologies. The IEEE 802.15.4 LR-WPAN comes as a low-cost and powersaving viable solution, which are important concerns while making decisions on remote sensoring projects. This study intends to propose a wireless communication system which makes possible the monitoring of analogic and/or digital variables (i. e., the pressure studied) involved on the artificial methods for oil and gas lifting. The main issues are: To develop a software based on SMAC Standard in order to create a wireless network to monitoring analogic and/or digital variables; To evaluate the communication link based on the number of lost packets tested in different environments (indoor and outdoor) and To propose an instrumentation system consisting of wireless devices / As redes de sensores sem fio (RSSS) j? s?o uma realidade hoje em dia, pois a grande necessidade de conectividade entre os equipamentos existentes numa planta industrial impulsiona a pesquisa e o desenvolvimento de diversas tecnologias. O padr?o LR-WPAN IEE 802.15.4 apresenta-se como uma solu??o vi?vel, com baixo custo e baixo consumo de energia, requisitos importantes para a implanta??o de um sistema de sensoriamento remoto. A contribui??o deste trabalho consiste em propor um sistema de comunica??o sem fio, que possa monitorar vari?veis anal?gicas e/ou digitais (no caso do estudo em quest?o, a press?o) nos m?todos de eleva??o artificial de petr?leo e g?s natural. Os pontos principais deste estudo s?o: Desenvolver um software baseado no Padr?o SMAC com intuito de criar uma rede sem fio com fins de monitoramento de vari?veis anal?gicas e/ou digitais; Avaliar o enlace de comunica??o com rela??o a quantidade de pacotes perdidos em diferentes ambientes (ambientes internos (Indoor) e externos (Outdoor)) e, Propor um sistema de instrumenta??o utilizando tecnologia sem fio