CRII: CNS: Toward a Sustainable and Intelligent Air-Ground IoT Framework for Remote Monitoring

该奖项全部或部分由《2021年美国救援计划法案》（公法117-2）资助。能量收集设备可以显著有利于偏远地区的物联网（IoT）应用，例如森林、农田和海洋，这些地区通常没有电力基础设施。然而，由于地处偏远且电力预算有限，这些能量收集供电的物联网设备很难将关键信息传递到物联网网络的骨干。新兴的无人驾驶飞行器（uav），如四轴飞行器，提供了一种可靠、可控和灵活的方式，在能量收集的背景下进行信息传递，无论它们可能飞过的是什么景观。然而，能量收集驱动的物联网设备与无人机之间的空地整合面临着根本性的挑战。在空中，每架无人机的覆盖范围受到有限能量的限制。在地面上，能量收集物联网设备之间的路由容易受到间歇性能源短缺造成的电源故障的影响。该研究旨在开发一个可持续的智能空地物联网框架，以实现无人机和能量收集设备之间的高效协作，从而实现有效的数据感知、处理和传输，以进行远程监控。这项研究将为在偏远地区部署低成本、提高可靠性和能源效率的能量收集物联网设备奠定基础。这项研究的成果将包括新的算法、协议、优化和硬件平台，这些将大大有利于前沿的物联网应用，如智能农业、野生动物跟踪、林业管理、海岸监测等。研究成果将紧密结合到学生的教育和培训中。该项目将促进代表性不足的群体和K-12学生参与STEM。所有的设计都将公开，以供广泛采用和未来的研究进展。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).Energy harvesting devices can significantly benefit Internet of Things (IoT) applications for remote areas, such as forests, farmlands, and oceans, where electrical power infrastructures are generally unavailable. However, due to the remoteness and limited power budget, it’s difficult for those energy harvesting-powered IoT devices to deliver critical information to the backbone of the IoT network. Emerging unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), such as quadcopters, offer a reliable, controllable, and flexible way of conducting information ferry in the context of energy harvesting, regardless of the landscapes they may fly over. Nevertheless, the air-ground integration between energy harvesting-powered IoT devices and UAVs faces fundamental challenges. In the air, each UAV's coverage is constrained by limited energy. On the ground, routing among energy harvesting IoT devices is susceptible to power failures caused by intermittent energy shortages. This research seeks to develop a sustainable and intelligent air-ground IoT framework to enable efficient collaboration between UAVs and energy harvesting devices for effective data sensing, processing, and delivery for remote monitoring.This research will lay a foundation for the deployment of energy harvesting IoT devices in remote areas with low cost, enhanced reliability, and energy efficiency. The outcomes of this research will include novel algorithms, protocols, optimizations, and hardware platforms that will significantly benefit cutting-edge IoT applications, such as smart agriculture, wild animal tracking, forestry management, coastal monitoring, and more. The research results will be closely integrated into the education and training of students. This project will promote the participation of underrepresented groups and K-12 students in STEM. All designs will be made publicly available for broad adoption and future research advances.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.