Reactivity
From SparxWiki
Winning entry for Microsoft Imagine Cup 2008 Software Design U.S. Final
American entry for Microsoft Imagine Cup 2008 World Final in Paris, France, in July 2008
Contents |
Introduction
The aim of the Reactivity sensor network is to provide enterprise and city-level networking of sensor and device control systems. Take a deep breath. The air you just inhaled might contain trace amounts of nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, suspended particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, ozone, radioactive radon, and other toxic substances. According to the World Health Organization, one of every six people on the earth, or more than 1.1 billion people, lives in urban areas where the air is unhealthy to breathe. Air pollution has definitely become one of the most challenging environmental problems of the century.
If you think air pollution is the only environmental problem around you, think again. Each year, the equivalent of approximately 10,000 million tons of coal is consumed on earth as energy. About 40% from this is based on oil and together with coal and natural gas more than 90% of the total energy consumption result from carbon atoms in these fossil fuels. The consequence will be a global warming (greenhouse effect) and a great reduction of renewable resources in the future. In reality, most of the energy we produce is wasted through heat loss and power inefficiencies. Integral to reducing environmental impact is a method of monitoring power consumption and reducing energy waste.
Software Implementation
Microsoft XML web services would provide a robust yet flexible network of environmental sensors. Possible sensors are AC current, temperature, humidity, light, sound, carbon dioxide and monoxide, and motion. Users can acquire any sensor data by connecting to any one of the nodes in the network. The network can be configured and programmed using customized rules. Different actions can be scheduled to happen once certain environmental conditions are met in the targeted environment. Microsoft SQL Server would be used to store sensor position and configuration information as well as sensor data for future study and analysis. Mobile phone users would be able to access sensor data as well as control environment remotely through a .NET device application developed on .NET Compact Framework.
Applications
In addition to energy reduction in urban environments, increased benefits of a distributed sensing networks model is realized in the ability to log, analyze, and visualize data to find patterns in natural setting. By deploying cheap, low-maintenance, and modular sensor systems, data can be gathered from virtually any environment and collected via wireless network. Power in natural environments can be provided by miniature solar panels on the device. Distributed sensing has the potential to accelerate advancements in the visualization of our environmental impact. Regions with sensor networks can be monitored continuously for light and air pollution creating extensive data logs. Visualization of environmental data can reveal distributions of environmental variables; these are keys to understanding how the environment is changing and getting feedback on energy reduction methods. Hundreds of species of plants and animals are losing their environments to human environmental displacements. Real-time monitoring of environmental conditions could be crucial in determining what factors are affecting species decline. Ruggedized versions can be deployed in hostile conditions such as forests and aquatic environments. Due to low cost, sensors can be blanketed throughout spaces.
Features
- Multiple sensor interfacing methods including USB, Data over power line, Zigbee mesh network, and Power over Ethernet.
- Abstracted serial communications protocol for enabling the use of universal devices.
- Multilayer hierarchy network creates a flexible and efficient network for all sensors and controls.
- Microsoft .NET Web Services provide an universal way of remote access from Windows applications and mobile devices.
- Capability to accept and setup various types of sensors with little to minimal effort.
- Various controls including light switch, HVAC, appliance, or various other consumer electronics.
User Scenarios
Dr. Tim Brady
A sustainability professor at RIT has begun his research on power consumption. He purchases a sensor capable of streaming current and voltage readouts to his computer through wireless communication. With this data, Professor Brady's research is accomplished in a fraction of the time and cost of using other data gathering products on the market.
Mr. Rick Tolleson
A university lab manager wants to assure the proper operation and safety of lab equipment. He schedules every night for all power to be cut to the room after closing the lab. He schedules a delayed activation of sensors with automatic entry detection reporting immediately to campus security as well as his cell phone or home phone.
Ms. Maria Deme
Maria Deme is a field research assistant working under a professor in the jungles of Borneo. Four years ago, she visited Borneo the first time and placed a number of sensors attached to various land features. Today, she is able to hire a pilot to fly over sections of the jungle, where equipment on flight wirelessly records sensor information to a redundant system. After the flight, the collected data can be uploaded to a web service where it will be viewed by Ms. Deme and her colleagues around the world.
Mr. Thomas Richter
Mr. Richter is a chemical engineering graduate student. While working on his PhD, a factory close to his office had a major incident involving the accidental release of caustic chemicals into the factory floor and surrounding property. Seeing the devastation caused by this incident, he turned his attention to monitoring devices that could be placed in factories at low cost. After developing sensors to detect the chemicals that were involved, he was able to use Reactivity to network and track their data. Three years later, a worker in a facility that was equipped with Mr. Richter's extension to Reactivity punctured a canister of a similar substance. Alarms were immediately triggered, authorities and chemical response crews were notified, and the factory's air distribution system was disabled. Due to this automated response, all factory personnel were evacuated quickly and damage was minimized.
Technologies
- .NET Framework 3.5
- Windows Communication Foundation
- Windows Presentation Foundation
- ASP.NET
- Microsoft SQL Server 2005
- AJAX and JSON
- Windows Service
- Windows Sidebar Gadget
- Microsoft Expression
- Zigbee 802.15.4
