WSN Update

Tracking down if the truck delivering your frozen fish failed to keep the goods at the proper temperature could become easier, with Agent QC's undercover transport tracking system.

Here is another real-world example Wireless Sensor Network technology in use. This time, the technology is being used to track the shipment of perishible goods. Sensors inside the truck, combined with on-board GPS system, can instantly report back to the main office computer when and where conditions in the truck become unsuitable for the cargo.
-Jeff

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Called ShotSpotter, the Mountain View-based start-up is credited with reducing celebratory gunfire across the country, helping to track down at least one serial sniper and saving an inestimable number of lives.

This article is an excellent example of how Wireless Sensor Network technology can improve our everyday lives. ShotSpotter uses wireless sensors to detect gunfire shots. When three or more sensors detect a gun shot, it can pin point the location within a few feet using triangulation - calculations based on the speed of sound and the time each sensor detected the gunshot. ShotSpotter was used to help catch the Columbus, Ohio sniper last year and is now being deployed in Iraq.
-Jeff

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Systems can achieve an average current drain on the order of 1 uA by relying on a low duty cycle and by minimizing the power needs of their processor, software, and analog interface.

Here is a great article for those techies out there that want to know specifically HOW wireless sensors can remain powered for a very long time, eliminating the need to worry about changing batteries on a regular basis. Essentially, a combination of a low duty cycle and synchronized communication allows motes to operate for multiple years.

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(MARKET WIRE) -- 05/23/2005 -- A new update of the Emerging Sensor and M2M Technologies & Markets Report released by WTRS finds that the ZigBee sector of the marketplace is gaining momentum and suppliers are positioning for the final stages of product release.

According to WTRS principal analyst, Kirsten West, Ph.D., "Integration Associates' acquisition of CompXs is a perfect example of the recent consolidation activity in the industry. Integration Associates has quite deftly, and in one fell swoop, swung itself into the forefront of leading ZigBee and IEEE 802.15.4 component vendors, placing it now squarely in competition with Freescale and Atmel. In a market space driving towards integration of controllers and RFICs, companies that are focused on providing customers with low-cost solutions that leverage existing design tools, development tools, and supplier relationships will gain the dominant share of the market."

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(CNN) - In a few years from now, the structures in your town will be made from concrete that can bend, the bridges will automatically alert authorities when maintenance is needed, and buildings will tell their occupants whether it is safe to re-enter after an earthquake.

Experts say buildings, bridges and highways will benefit from developments in smart technology, ultimately making infrastructure much safer for humans.

WSNUpdate Comments:
This article describes how wireless sensors could revolutionize civil and environmental engineering by being able to monitor the health of bridges, buildings, and other large structures.
- Jeff

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(Newswise) - The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded a $246,000 Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP) grant to researchers in Virginia Tech's Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering for advanced research on wireless communications networks that are critical during military maneuvers.

DURIP grants are highly competitive and are awarded to enhance academic research capabilities in areas that are important to national defense. Among the research proposals selected for this year's DURIP grants, the Virginia Tech project is the only one in the area of wireless networks.

Thomas Hou, an assistant professor of electrical engineering and principal investigator on the DURIP project, will work with Professor Jeffrey Reed, deputy director of Virginia Tech's Mobile and Portable Radio Research Group, and research scientist Shiwen Mao to create a testbed platform for wireless mobile ad hoc networks and wireless sensor networks. The platform will be the first of its kind at a U.S. university.

Military mobile ad hoc wireless networks can be set up to connect military groups that need to maintain communications while on the move - including personnel in the field, tanks and helicopters on maneuvers, or ships at sea, Hou said.

Wireless sensor networks, on the other hand, are stationary. They are often deployed in areas hostile to humans and can relay a variety of observational data - video and audio as well as scalar data such as temperature and pressure - to military personnel stationed at safer vantage points.

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(nytimes.com) - In the wilds of the San Jacinto Mountains, along a steep canyon, scientists are turning 30 acres of pines and hardwoods in California into a futuristic vision of environmental study.

They are linking up more than 100 tiny sensors, robots, cameras and computers, which are beginning to paint an unusually detailed portrait of this lush world, home to more than 30 rare and endangered species.

Much of the instrumentation is wireless. Devices the size of a deck of cards - known as motes, after dust motes - can measure light, wind speed, rainfall, temperature, humidity and barometric pressure, detecting the presence of a warm body or tracking the progress of a chill wind up the canyon.

WSNUpdate comments:
This is an excellent article that describes the use of wireless sensor networks for environmental studies. Registration at NYTimes.com may be necessary to read the entire article, but it is free.
- Jeff

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(WPHerald.com) - A terrorist tries to sneak a bomb hidden in a lunch bag onto Liberty Island and the Statue of Liberty. As he passes through an X-ray machine at a security screening station, images of the bomb are sent over an encrypted, wireless broadband network to a command center in New York City. Bomb technicians evaluate -- and alert the U.S. Park Police, who nab the suspect.

This is not a scene from "The Interpreter," the latest thriller starring Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn -- it is a new technological capability the government has employed to thwart terrorists. Experts told UPI's Wireless World that wireless security networks are using increasingly sophisticated tools to protect Americans from coast to coast.

WSNUpdate comments:
This is a very interesting article about how Mesh Sensor Networks can be a valuable tool for homeland defense. The article starts with a Wi-Fi application, but goes into sensor networks later in the article.
- Jeff

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(Business Wire) - INNCOM has selected Millennial Net as a strategic partner for wireless sensor network technology, which will provide RF communication for several of their hospitality-based product offerings, the companies announced today.

Connecticut-based INNCOM develops and markets advanced guestroom control systems to the global lodging industry. By partnering with Millennial Net - the leading developer of self-organizing, wireless sensor networking systems - INNCOM is able to expand its existing hard-wired and patented infrared guestroom control and monitoring capabilities to include a MeshScape(TM)-powered RF wireless networking option. This partnership will provide hoteliers with an expanded level of service by offering a RF communication option when hard-wired or infrared guestroom control networking is cost prohibitive or not feasible.

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SAN JOSE, Calif.-(BUSINESS WIRE) - May 2, 2005 - Crossbow Technology, Inc. (www.xbow.com), the leading end-to-end supplier in wireless sensor networks and the largest manufacturer of Smart Dust wireless sensors, announced today the release of the TelosB Mote platform, TPR2400. TelosB is an open-source experimental platform developed and published to the community by UC Berkeley. The IEEE 802.15.4 compliant device for wireless mesh networking features the TI MSP430 microcontroller. The platform provides an integrated processor radio solution including a USB interface, 2.4GHz radio, onboard antenna, sensor interfaces, and an optional pre-installed environmental sensor suite.

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