Ambient intelligence has acquired great importance in recent years and requires the development of new innovative solutions. This paper presents a distributed telemonitoring system, aimed at improving healthcare and assistance to dependent people at their homes. The system implements a service-oriented architecture based platform, which allows heterogeneous wireless sensor networks to communicate in a distributed way independent of time and location restrictions. This approach provides the system with a higher ability to recover from errors and a better flexibility to change their behavior at execution time. Preliminary results are presented in this paper.

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Using Heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Networks in a Telemonitoring System for Healthcare

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is widely used in outdoor environmental positioning. However, GPS cannot support indoor positioning because there is no signal for positioning in an indoor environment. Nowadays, there are many situations which require indoor positioning, such as searching for a book in a library, looking for luggage in an airport, emergence navigation for fire alarms, robot location, etc. Many technologies, such as ultrasonic, sensors, Bluetooth, WiFi, magnetic field, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), etc., are used to perform indoor positioning. Compared with other technologies, RFID used in indoor positioning is more cost and energy efficient. The Traditional RFID indoor positioning algorithm LANDMARC utilizes a Received Signal Strength (RSS) indicator to track objects. However, the RSS value is easily affected by environmental noise and other interference. In this paper, our purpose is to reduce the location fluctuation and error caused by multipath and environmental interference in LANDMARC. We propose a novel indoor positioning algorithm based on Bayesian probability and K-Nearest Neighbor (BKNN). The experimental results show that the Gaussian filter can filter some abnormal RSS values. The proposed BKNN algorithm has the smallest location error compared with the Gaussian-based algorithm, LANDMARC and an improved KNN algorithm. The average error in location estimation is about 15 cm using our method.

An RFID Indoor Positioning Algorithm Based on Bayesian Probability and K-Nearest Neighbor.

A survey of advances in vision-based vehicle re-identification

Ant colony optimization algorithm with Internet of Vehicles for intelligent traffic control system

Logistics is a driver of countries’ and firms’ competitiveness and plays a vital role in economic growth. However, the current logistics industry still faces high costs and low efficiency. The development of smart logistics brings opportunities to solve these problems. As one of the important technologies of the modern information and communication technology (ICT), the Internet of Things (IoT) can create oceans of data and explore the complex relationships between the transactions represented by these data with the help of various mathematical analysis technologies. These features are helpful to promote the development of smart logistics. In this article, we provide a comprehensive survey on the literature involving IoT technologies applied to smart logistics. First, the related work and background knowledge of smart logistics are introduced. Then, we highlight the enabling technologies for IoT in smart logistics. Furthermore, we review how IoT technologies are applied in the realm of smart logistics from the perspectives of logistics transportation, warehousing, loading/unloading, carrying, distribution processing, distribution, and information processing. Finally, some challenges and future directions are discussed.

Applications of the Internet of Things (IoT) in Smart Logistics: A Comprehensive Survey

Modern infrastructure, such as dense urban areas and underground tunnels, can effectively block all GPS signals, which implies that effective position triangulation will not be achieved. The main problem that is addressed in this project is the design and implementation of an accurate vehicle location system using radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology in combination with GPS and the Global system for Mobile communication (GSM) technology, in order to provide a solution to the limitation discussed above. In essence, autonomous vehicle tracking will be facilitated with the use of RFID technology where GPS signals are non-existent. The design of the system and the results are reflected in this paper. An extensive literature study was done on the field known as the Internet of Things, as well as various topics that covered the integration of independent technology in order to address a specific challenge. The proposed system is then designed and implemented. An RFID transponder was successfully designed and a read range of approximately 31 cm was obtained in the low frequency communication range (125 kHz to 134 kHz). The proposed system was designed, implemented, and field tested and it was found that a vehicle could be accurately located and tracked. It is also found that the antenna size of both the RFID reader unit and RFID transponder plays a critical role in the maximum communication range that can be achieved.

Accurate vehicle location system using RFID, an internet of things approach

The emergence of Wireless Sensor and Actor Networks (WSAN) has contributed significantly to the progress of ubiquitous and pervasive computing, but has also introduced new challenges. The authors researched this technology and its applicability to real-world scenarios through the Cerberus project. This paper offers a discussion of the processes the authors went through from initial contact with the technology to implementing a system based on it, as well as the problems faced while working with WSAN. These experiences indicate the need for a dynamic, mote and application-independent management system. A service oriented architecture (SOA) for the management of WSAN, which makes use of OSGi, is proposed and evaluated. This SOA allows for the updating and changing of the application largely independent of the mote configuration as well as for easy management of different types of motes and actors.

A service oriented architecture for wireless sensor and actor network applications

The rapid growth and expansion of the Internet, as well as technical advances in the area of sensor technology, allow for the interconnection of physical objects for the purpose of achieving collective goals, which paves the way for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The Industry 4.0 paradigm is a relatively new concept that still requires detailed investigation and discussion. Standards, technologies, and overall guidelines need to be presented; thus this review paper aims to address key questions to provide some clarity on navigating the tide of Industry 4.0. The key enabling technologies, and the extent to which these technologies can be applied in industry to achieve the fundamental goals of Industry 4.0, are presented and discussed. Current challenges that hinder Industry 4.0 adoption in the South African mining sector are discussed, and a short discussion on the way forward is presented. In brief, this article aims to present a detailed roadmap for the implementation of Industry 4.0 methods in the South African mining sector. From the literature, a digital framework and toolbox have been compiled to serve as a roadmap for the way forward in successful Industry 4.0 adoption. The proposed framework and toolbox are presented, with a theoretical case study.

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Towards industry 4.0: a roadmap for the South African heavy industry sector

Industry stands to benefit from adopting Internet of Things (IoT) practices. However, reliability and quality of service are of the utmost importance. Challenges such as intermittent connectivity in wide-area wireless communications can hamper the adoption and efficiency of IoT principles in industry. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to propose a new system that actively monitors the status of a wide-area wireless communications network to improve quality of service and ensure reliability. The new monitoring system was implemented on a telemetry system that is used by multiple industrial facilities in the Republic of South Africa. Successful monitoring of 80 remote end-points with more than one thousand individual industrial components was achieved, with communication failures or anomalies being detected immediately. In addition to the immediate detection of communication failures, the average connection uplink time was increased by more than 25 per cent.

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Development of a software-based monitoring and information system for industrial telemetry applications

Demand-Side Management (DSM) initiatives can result in substantial electricity cost reductions.  Energy Service Companies (ESCos) typically perform remote monitoring and maintenance to ensure sustained performance of these DSM initiatives.  Mobile network service providers offer the flexibility required to allow an ESCo to monitor DSM initiative that are widely distributed across South Africa.  Mismanagement of the communication infrastructure and the potential for excessive data usage threatens the financial feasibility of remote DSM maintenance.  Software was developed to promote improved management of this communication infrastructure, and to monitor the accessibility, data usage and other communication vitals automatically and remotely.  Optimal management of the communication infrastructure ensures the lowest possible base cost, while prediction based on data usage information allows for predictive maintenance in order to avoid or reduce excessive data costs.  This paper presents the process of reducing the communication cost of an ESCo that actively monitors and maintains more than forty DSM initiatives.  Improved asset management and automated monitoring resulted in a 73% reduction in the monthly communication costs.

Jaco Prinsloo

Papers

Accurate vehicle location system using RFID, an internet of things approach

A service oriented architecture for wireless sensor and actor network applications

Towards industry 4.0: a roadmap for the South African heavy industry sector

Development of a software-based monitoring and information system for industrial telemetry applications

REDUCING THE COMMUNICATION COSTS OF A REMOTE MONITORING AND MAINTENANCE SYSTEM FOR AN ENERGY SERVICES COMPANY (ESCo)