Describe the advantages and application prospects of wireless sensors

Wireless technology is widely used in more and more places. So do you know what wireless sensors are? What are its features? What are the application prospects? This article will introduce you in detail what wireless sensors are and hope to help you.

Wireless sensor technology has just begun to be adopted by many enterprises, and these enterprises have never imagined wireless networks. Think about companies that provide rental of heavy machinery and construction equipment: they can now monitor and manage their tractors using wireless sensor networks at the construction site. For example, in a newly created residential complex, one of the rented tractors encountered a coordination problem, resulting in abnormal engine vibration. Irregular vibration indicates that the engine is faulty, and the operation may fail. By using the wireless sensor technology deployed in the company's field, the sensor can detect irregular problems in advance and send an email to the company's technical staff. Soon, technicians will arrive at the site and repair the problem before the problem deteriorates. Even the customer will not find any adjustments needed.

It is understood that the current research work on dust technology is jointly led by Intel and the University of California at Berkeley. They have successfully created a full-featured sensor. Although these sensors only have bottle caps, they can perform computing, detection, and communication functions. You can imagine the huge potential of this small sensor. They can be placed in coatings to detect the integrity of buildings after an earthquake!

How wireless sensor networks work

These sensors connect to each other in a way similar to wireless laptops, desktops, and PDAs over the Internet. They only require a small amount of power, and their applications will be further promoted as their prices continue to decrease in the next few years. They are distributed in every corner like seeds and communicate with each other. They play an important role in environment monitoring and information collection. The sensor network can tell you when the engine needs to be maintained, monitor buildings or forests to prevent fires, or warn you of signs of collapse when using a dam in a dust area.

These sensors lay a solid foundation for "active computing" and use hundreds of small computers to work together to predict human needs. Intel Research Director David Tennenhouse said: "Now, either the computer is waiting for us, or we are waiting for the computer. In the active computing world, the computer will be able to predict your needs, sometimes it means you perform some functions."

Golden Gate Bridge, dangerous regions and agriculture

In San Francisco, 200 Internet dust has been deployed on the Golden Gate Bridge. These dust particles are used to determine the swing distance from one side to the other-precise to several feet in strong winds. When the dust detects the moving distance, it will transmit the information through a micro-computer network. The information is finally sent to a more powerful computer for data analysis. Any abnormal readings that do not match the current weather conditions may indicate a hidden danger in the bridge. According to this information, the system will notify engineers of repairs to ensure that bridges remain intact in the event of earthquakes or other natural disasters.

Dust can be used to determine light, temperature, humidity, acceleration, magnetic force, motion, and other physical conditions. Dust has many different applications in industrial production and manufacturing. Just as long as the car engine is properly adjusted, it will make a "normal" sound, as long as the heavy equipment is in normal operation, there will be signal vibration. Intel is currently testing a wireless network in the factory. The network consists of 210 sensors installed on 40 machines in the factory. Each intel semiconductor assembly plant has approximately 3000 machines, and this dust monitoring system will benefit the plant. This concept can be applied to almost any assembly line or engine. It can greatly reduce the cost of equipment inspection, and because problems can be detected in advance, it can shorten the downtime, improve efficiency, and extend the time of use of the device.

The application of wireless sensor networks is not limited to the mechanical field. A study at the University of Rochester indicated that these computers could even be used for medical research. Scientists use wireless sensors to create an "smart healthcare home", a five-bedroom apartment, where a human research project is used to test concepts and prototype products. "Smart healthcare home" uses dust to measure vital signs of blood pressure, pulse and breathing of residents), sleeping posture, and 24 hours of activity every day. The collected data will be used for future medical research.

In addition, wireless sensor networks are also used in hazardous working environments. Employees currently working in oil drilling, nuclear power plants and assembly lines will be monitored at any time. These flaws can tell you the employees at the work site, what they are doing, and their security protection and other important information.

Agriculture is another important field in the use of dust. To study this possibility, Intel first established its first wireless vineyard in Oregon. Dust is distributed in every corner of the vineyard, and soil temperature is detected every minute to ensure that grapes can grow healthily and thus achieve a bumper harvest. Soon, researchers will implement a system to monitor the humidity of each dust area or the number of hazardous substances in the area. They even plan to use dust on livestock, such as dogs, so that necessary information can be collected during patrols. This information will help with effective irrigation and pesticide spraying, thereby reducing costs and ensuring high farm returns.

Commercialization prospects

Although the technology is still in its initial application stage, the price of dust will gradually decrease in the next five years and will be widely used. Crossbow Technologies is the first company to provide commercial dust. Their latest generation of devices, including microprocessor, memory, storage, and an internal analog-to-digital converter, are all integrated into a device with only 1/4 of the size of the original device. These dust sources can be used to detect acceleration, magnetic force, light, temperature, and other factors. The current cost is about $50 per hour. This price will be significantly reduced as demand for dust increases and processor costs fall.

Obviously, these computers will be applied to all areas we can imagine. It is foreseeable that they may be available throughout Asia in the next few years.