Edge Computing Based IoT Architecture for Low Cost Air Pollution Monitoring Systems: A Comprehensive System Analysis, Design Considerations & Development

Abstract

With the swift growth in commerce and transportation in the modern civilization, much attention has been paid to air quality monitoring, however existing monitoring systems are unable to provide sufficient spatial and temporal resolutions of the data with cost efficient and real time solutions. In this paper we have investigated the issues, infrastructure, computational complexity, and procedures of designing and implementing real-time air quality monitoring systems. To daze the defects of the existing monitoring systems and to decrease the overall cost, this paper devised a novel approach to implement the air quality monitoring system, employing the edge-computing based Internet-of-Things (IoT). In the proposed method, sensors gather the air quality data in real time and transmit it to the edge computing device that performs necessary processing and analysis. The complete infrastructure & prototype for evaluation is developed over the Arduino board and IBM Watson IoT platform. Our model is structured in such a way that it reduces the computational burden over sensing nodes (reduced to 70%) that is battery powered and balanced it with edge computing device that has its local data base and can be powered up directly as it is deployed indoor. Algorithms were employed to avoid temporary errors in low cost sensor, and to manage cross sensitivity problems. Automatic calibration is set up to ensure the accuracy of the sensors reporting, hence achieving data accuracy around 75–80% under different circumstances. In addition, a data transmission strategy is applied to minimize the redundant network traffic and power consumption. Our model acquires a power consumption reduction up to 23% with a significant low cost. Experimental evaluations were performed under different scenarios to validate the system’s effectiveness.

Indoor Air Quality Monitoring Systems Based on Internet of Things: A Systematic Review

“…However, 14 studies (35%) used MQ series sensors (MQ135, MQ6, MQ4, MQ7, MQ9, MQ5, MQ2, MQ3) for measuring gaseous pollutants. Furthermore, 25% of the studies [ 61 , 63 , 68 , 70 , 78 , 79 , 81 , 82 , 86 , 90 ] used the MQ135 multi-gas sensor. The primary disadvantage of MQ series sensors is that they require field calibration.…”

A comprehensive review on indoor air quality monitoring systems for enhanced public health

“…Idrees et al [48] closely observed the challenges associated with IAP and developed an Arduino based platform for real-time IAQ monitoring systems. They initiated steps toward the detailed investigation of factors such as computational complexity, infrastructure, issues, and procedures for efficient designing.…”

“…Experts reveal that the IoT system can monitor a large number of parameters, even without compromising system performance. Studies carried by Idrees et al [48] and Sivasankari et al [49] gave a new edge to the IAQ monitoring systems with impactful IoT architecture design. However, very few researchers in the past few years have worked on prediction systems in the field of IAQ monitoring.…”

Low Cost Autonomous Lock-In Amplifier for Resistance/Capacitance Sensor Measurements

“…The automation of the phase alignment and measurement processes has the advantage of increasing both speed and reliability, as well as reducing operation costs compared to manual execution [5]. That is why, for the operation of the system, the Arduino YUN [46] platform was used.…”

“…Device miniaturization has been key to the development of innovative sensing technology with application in different fields [1], ranging from biology and medicine [2,3], to environmental monitoring [4][5][6], or limnology and civil structural monitoring [7][8][9]. Therefore, the interest in new large scale integrated systems including sensing technology is growing substantially, since they make it possible to carry out the same analysis usually performed by traditional sophisticated equipment but with the advantage of reduced size, power, and cost.…”