Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are composed of a significant number of nodes deployed in a widespread area in which not all nodes are directly connected. WSNs have been widely employed in numerous real world smart applications that greatly impact many areas of humanity, including health care monitoring, forest fire detection, air pollution monitoring, landslide detection, and structural health monitoring. However, limited battery life and inefficient power management of the sensor nodes continue to be major concerns in the further development of WSNs. This project aims to design a new low-power sensor node, the Bulldog Mote, using attractive low power techniques, such as energy harvesting, clock scheduling, and dynamic voltage scheduling, implemented through all WSN design layers. The WSN and all its subsystems containing the newly designed Bulldog Motes will be methodologically tested on forest fire detection and/or smart watering applications. The impact of this project will be further strengthened by: (1) embedding low-power design technologies in substantial systems from major industry parties, (2) enhancing curriculum development with improved courses and senior projects, (3) disseminating research results through online tutorial, peer referred publications, and open-source website, (4) reaching out to K-12 students and underrepresented minority groups through open houses and summer camps, and (5) supporting women and minority students in research. Finally, subsequent comprehensive low-power design model and procedures will be developed for designers to create and improve designs of other embedded devices under tight power constrains.
The successful application of WSN heavily relies on efficiently designed communication protocols and energy aware node architecture. This project addresses the design and implementation of the following components: (1) efficient low-power methodologies implemented throughout all WSNs' design layers from the application to the physical layer, (2) a new WSN sensor node, the Bulldog Mote, created using various low power methodologies, and (3) energy harvesting technologies for sensor node architecture. A low power design model will be created to design such embedded devices and made available to educators, students and engineers working in related areas. Furthermore, this research will provide the knowledge necessary to design enhanced sensor nodes for WSNs in terms of power consumption and communication ability. The same low-power design techniques can be used for a variety of other power constrained applications, such as consumer electronics and medical devices.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
