Actuated Acoustic Sensor Networks for Industrial Processes (AASN4IP)

该项目旨在开发无线技术，以支持涉及导电液体（例如水）的工业过程的内部监控。这种工艺在许多部门都很常见，包括化学、制药和核工业。该技术将基于无线传感器网络（WSN），该网络由包含传感器、通信收发器和嵌入式计算机系统的“节点”集合组成。节点将自己组织成一个计算机网络，用于将传感器读数发送到基站。目前的建议旨在将联合王国建立为开发和应用这一技术的卓越中心，该项目将研究构建一个小型节点网络所需的技术，这些节点可以浸入过程外壳中，可以感知当地条件并通过网络连接到船外的基站。这项工作的一个重要和新颖的方面是使用声学技术，在有限的空间，通信和节点位置的确定。节点将包含小型浮力和推进系统，使其能够被操纵到选定的位置进行测量。还将开发软件，使节点能够探索该过程，这一能力在将与我们的工业合作者之一（Nexia）开发的演示系统中非常重要。演示系统的使用为将在项目中进行的一般研究提供了重点。它涉及测量核废料储存池内的状况，提供关键信息，以便能够执行精心规划的材料清除和处置方案。鉴于公众对长期储存核废料的关注日益增加，这显然是一个及时的应用。然而，研究的动机超出了一个单一的应用程序，并源于希望克服目前的过程测量技术的局限性，并提供更准确和详细的信息，过程动态比目前可以获得。获得这些信息将提供机会，提高工厂的灵活性，减少原材料的吸收，减少能源的使用，减少对环境的影响，减少废物的产生和减少职业接触，通过提高知识的过程中，关键的研究挑战包括在有限的和潜在的混乱的水下环境中使用声学技术，非常小规模的浮力和推进系统的发展，能源管理和有效的勘探战略。显然，这需要广泛的专业知识。提出这项建议的团队包括三名来自曼彻斯特大学的学术研究人员和一名来自牛津大学的研究人员。曼彻斯特的学者来自电气与电子工程学院的两个研究小组：微波和通信系统以及传感，成像和信号处理。他们提供通信（物理层和协议），嵌入式系统，传感和电子系统的技能。此外，首席调查员具有机械工程方面的经验。来自牛津大学的研究员是计算实验室软件工程组的成员，并提供探索算法和协议方面的专业知识。四名博士后研究助理将被雇用，以支持工作，并提供演示。此外，两名研究生将探索移动性和电源管理以及探索算法等领域。四名支助人员将为该项目贡献大约三年的努力。

This project aims to develop wireless technology to support the internal monitoring of industrial processes involving conducting liquids (e.g. water). Such processes are common in many sectors including the chemical, pharmaceutical and nuclear industries. The technology will be based on wireless sensor networks (WSN) which consist of collections of 'nodes' containing sensors, communications transceivers and an embedded computer system. Nodes organise themselves into a computer network, which is used to send sensor readings to a base station. The present proposal seeks to establish the UK as a centre of excellence for the development and application of this technology, and will significantly extend the work that we are currently carrying out in its application to grain processing.The project will research the technologies necessary to construct a network of small nodes that can be immersed within a process enclosure and which can sense local conditions and communicate readings through the network to a base station outside the vessel. An important and novel aspect of this work is the use of acoustic techniques, in a confined space, for communications and the determination of node position. The nodes will contain small scale buoyancy and propulsion systems enabling them to be manoeuvred to selected positions for measurement purposes. Software will also be developed to enable nodes to explore the process, a capability that is very important in a demonstrator system that will be developed with one of our industrial collaborators (Nexia).The use of a demonstrator system provides a focus to the generic research that will be carried out within the project. It is concerned with measuring the conditions within nuclear waste storage ponds, providing crucial information that will enable a carefully planned material removal and disposal programme to be carried out. This is clearly a timely application, given increasing public concern about the long-term storage of nuclear waste. However, the motivation for the research goes beyond a single application, and stems from the desire to overcome the limitations of current process measurement technology, and to provide much more accurate and detailed information about process dynamics than can be obtained at present. Access to such information will provide opportunities for increased plant agility, reduced raw materials uptake, reduced energy usage, reduced environmental impact, reduced waste generation and reduced occupational exposure via improved knowledge of the process.The key research challenges include the use of acoustic techniques within confined and potentially cluttered underwater environments, the development of very small scale buoyancy and propulsion systems, energy husbandry, and efficient exploration strategies. Clearly this requires a broad range of expertise. The team making the proposal includes three academic investigators from the University of Manchester, and one from the University of Oxford. The Manchester academics are from two research groups in the School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering: Microwave and Communication Systems and Sensing, Imaging and Signal Processing . They provide skills in communications (physical layers and protocols), embedded systems, sensing, and electronic systems. In addition, the lead investigator has experience in mechanical engineering. The investigator from Oxford is a member of the Software Engineering Group in the Computing Laboratory, and provides expertise in exploration algorithms and protocols. Four postdoctoral research assistants will be employed to support the work and to deliver the demonstrator. In addition two research students will explore the areas of mobility and power management, and exploration algorithms. Four support staff will contribute about three years of effort to the project.