Design and Implementation of a Virtual Sensor Network for Smart Waste Water Monitoring

Abstract

Monitoring and analysis of open air basins is a critical task in waste water plant management. These tasks generally require sampling waters at several hard to access points, be it real time with multiparametric sensor probes, or retrieving water samples. Full automation of these processes would require deploying hundreds (if not thousands) of fixed sensors, unless the sensors can be translated. This work proposes the utilization of robotized unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platforms to work as a virtual high density sensor network, which could analyze in real time or capture samples depending on the robotic UAV equipment. To check the validity of the concept, an instance of the robotized UAV platform has been fully designed and implemented. A multi-agent system approach has been used (implemented over a Robot Operating System, ROS, middleware layer) to define a software architecture able to deal with the different problems, optimizing modularity of the software; in terms of hardware, the UAV platform has been designed and built, as a sample capturing probe. A description on the main features of the multi-agent system proposed, its architecture, and the behavior of several components is discussed. The experimental validation and performance evaluation of the system components has been performed independently for the sake of safety: autonomous flight performance has been tested on-site; the accuracy of the localization technologies deemed as deployable options has been evaluated in controlled flights; and the viability of the sample capture device designed and built has been experimentally tested.

UAV assistance paradigm: State-of-the-art in applications and challenges

“…Due to their fast deployment, their controllable flexibility, their easy programmability, and their capacity to be deployed in complex environments, UAVs are considered as the most appropriate devices to embed visual inspection and communication devices in different sectors, such as industrial fields [235], [236] and agricultural areas [237]- [239]. Moreover, UAVs can intercept data and images from both IoT devices and the field, respectively.…”

A Multi-Layer LoRaWAN Infrastructure for Smart Waste Management

“…To this end, Ref. [ 24 ] devised a virtual sensor networks whose nodes are drones which are in charge to sample water coming from those basins by means of an especially developed probe. Waste management quality of service may be also enriched by taking advantage of VSUs along with the deployment of smart public waste bins.…”

A New Area of Utilizing Industrial Internet of Things in Environmental Monitoring

“…Rezwan et al (2019) developed a minimalist model for monitoring working conditions of a WWTP, as well as its key performance indicators such as PH, temperature, and turbidity. Edmundo Guerra et al (2020) developed an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platform to capture samples from the open air basin of a WWTP. In addition to monitoring the quality of water, monitoring and controlling the pollutants in air, such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), are also very important for the process industries and surrounding communities.…”