Applications
Wireless technology has found way into variety of applications and systems. Here we give an overview of some applications of WSN, broadly classifying them into five categories such as Military, Environmental, Habitat monitoring, Health and Home, and other applications.
Military Applications
Research into wireless sensor technology was initially motivated by military applications. Some examples of military applications of wireless sensor networks are Monitoring Friendly Forces, Equipment and Ammunition; battlefield surveillance; targeting; battle damage assessment; sniper localization and nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) attack detection and reconnaissance.
Monitoring Friendly Forces, Equipment and Ammunition
WSN can be constantly used to monitor the existing state of friendly troops and the condition and availability of equipment and ammunition in the battlefield. Data is gathered at sink nodes and sent to troop leaders or commanders so that appropriate action could be taken keeping in consideration the situation at hand.
Battlefield surveillance and damage assessment
Sensors can be deployed in critical areas where human involvement is not possible, to keep a close watch on enemy forces. This can include tracking the path of military vehicles (e.g. tanks) with magnetometer sensors or tracking the path of enemy troops and feeding it into an intelligent ammunition system which can take an aggressive action when the need arises. Sensor networks can also be deployed in the battlefield to gather information about damage in a battle.
Nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) attack detection and reconnaissance
Senor networks can be used to detect and raise an alarm in case of such attacks. This will lead to a significant decrease in the number of casualties. They can also be used to take counter measures in case of attacks as well.
Habitat Monitoring Applications
WSN present a more economical method for conducting long-term studies than traditional methods. Sensor nodes are deployed prior to the breeding season (in case of animals), to monitor and collect data about animal life. Data is gathered without human intervention, and useful information is inferred regarding the nesting pattern and breeding season. Some examples of habitat monitoring include Great Duck Island System and Zebra net.
Great Duck Island System:
WSN observe the breeding behavior of Leach’s Storm Petrel (a small bird). Small battery powered sensor nodes are deployed in patches in the area of interest. The nodes measure temperature, humidity and pressure and light levels. The sensor nodes transmit their data through sensor network to a network gateway. The gateway is responsible for transmitting data to the remote base station, which is connected to a database through a satellite link. The data collected is finally displayed to scientists for evaluation.
Zebra net:
Zebra Net WSN observe the behavior of wild animals such as zebras; lions, etc. Animals are equipped with sensor nodes and GPS is used to monitor their exact location. Data is collected from the animals at regular intervals by a mobile base station (e.g. airplane).
Other commercial applications
Other applications of WSN include intrusion monitoring, monitoring product quality, power monitoring and environmental control in an office building, vehicle tracking on a road, and rescue victims in disaster hit areas.
Intrusion monitoring
WSNs can detect movements inside a building which is supposed to be empty. If a movement is detected, the network raises an alarm and the security is informed. A security team when enter the building can collect the logs of alarm from the network with the help of any mobile device (e.g. PDA, Laptop).
Smart roads
The goal of such a WSN is to improve driving safety by providing the drivers with an early warning of dangerous situations that may arise. The system can be further enhanced to provide facilities such as vehicle tracking over large distances, vehicle counting at intersections for traffic management, pedestrian on road notification, erratic driver warning etc.
Power monitoring
WSN can monitor power consumption in a building, by detecting devices which consume a lot of energy. The goal is to identify these devices and then find ways to reduce power consumption.
Rescue of victims
WSN are currently being used to rescue victims buried in avalanches. The goal is to locate the exact position of the victims and to give the rescue workers more information about the state of the victim.
Sensor networks can also be used in underground mines to determine hazardous conditions to prevent occurrence of accidents. They can also be used in mines to rescue victims in case if a mine collapses.
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