Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Several attempts have been made during recent years aimed at developing a common
software control architecture that can operate a large class of robots for a large number
of applications: this has been identified as one ultimate goal for robotics. Such
architecture needs to be defined as independent of the specifics of robot hardware, its
sensors and actuators, its geometry, its mechanics, its dynamics, the target application
and the environment. Suggestions for universal standards include the OPEN-R
framework developed by Sony for the AIBO entertainment robot (Ken´Ichi, 2004), the
Evolution Robotics Software Platform and Architecture (Pirjanian, 2005), and the
URBI framework (Baillie, 2005).
5.3.2.
Internet-connected sensors and actuators
Relatively recent advances in micro-electro mechanical systems (MEMS), in wireless
communication and in digital electronics have allowed the development of low-power
and low-cost sensors to communicate wirelessly within a limited range. The integration
of a large number of these kinds of sensor has led to the idea of developing large
wireless sensor networks (WSN) able to monitor different parameters (including
positions, temperature and humidity). These pervasive networks are able not only to
sense important parameters of the environment but also to provide some actuators that
can act based on the sensed data. The use of the Internet to supervise these networks, to
gather data and to command some actuators inside the networks, greatly increases the
impact and the utility that WSN can have in different applications, such as
environmental monitoring, healthcare, home automation and commercial applications.
Different research projects are intended to demonstrate and investigate the potential of
WSN: in the GoodFood project, for example, a WSN was implemented in a vineyard,
to monitor in real time physical and chemical environmental parameters.
However, the integration of sensors and the Internet presents some issues that have to
be resolved in the near future to fully exploit the capabilities of WSNs. The first problem
is that of addressing over the Internet - the available number of addresses is low with
respect to the huge number of sensors that we would like to control individually. The
second issue is the standardization of “smart sensors”. Much research has been
undertaken on these smart sensors providing plug-and-play features, but a true
standardization is needed to exploit the ease of integration of different kinds of smart
sensor into increasingly complex WSNs.
The IPv6 standard will allow a large number of available addresses for the sensors
of the WSNs and standardization for the smart sensors will probably be present; in fact,
the IEEE1451 standard family is already moving in this direction. These two factors
will allow WSNs with a large number of sensors to be easily controllable by the
Internet. Furthermore, the sensors will be easily integrated into the networks. WSNs
will become a very reliable and mature technology, popular and in widespread use in
many everyday applications. For example, they will be widely used in the medical field
to provide an interface for patients affected by some forms of handicap; they will be
used to monitor physiological parameters. In the home-automation field, sensors will
be deployed in different domestic devices such as refrigerators and central-heating
system, so as to provide interconnected services to the user which can interact with
different devices from any location by means of the Internet. They will also be in
widespread use in farming, enhancing the quality/quantity of produced food.
The idea of inserting actuators in networks will be investigated further, considering
as actuators robots that can move in the environment.
