CPS: Medium: Collaborative Research: Constantly on the Lookout: Low-cost Sensor Enabled Explosive Detection to Protect High Density Environments

该项目旨在使普通公民能够负责收集可用于共同利益的实时环境数据。该项目的目标应用是一种网络物理系统，用于探测空气中的少量爆炸性蒸汽，以保护大范围的公共集会。在这个系统中，免费发放的极低成本的爆炸物传感器将连接到愿意参加的参与者的智能手机上，有效地将他们中的每一个人变成一个瞭望传感器节点。虽然拟议的网络物理系统的主要应用是爆炸物探测，但具有类似技术挑战的问题包括空气污染监测系统、流行病预防、火灾和/或气体泄漏监测。这个项目的成功完成将产生大量针对问题的新应用程序，目的是通过利用自愿参与者捐赠的计算、电力和通信能力来实现共同目标。了解到对STEM(科学、技术、工程、数学)相关职业的兴趣从小学就开始了，该项目将使用一个基于传感器的系统，旨在定位热源，作为K-12外联活动的一部分，探索众包数据的收集、处理和调度。研究人员通过富尔顿本科生研究计划(FURI)、巴雷特暑期学者计划(BSS)、国家科学基金会赞助的面向本科生的国家纳米技术基础设施网络研究体验(NNIN REU)以及亚利桑那州立大学的高中生暑期研究体验计划，定期与本科生和高中生合作。设计一个基于极低成本传感器的众包监测系统，该项目要解决几个独特的技术和科学挑战。首先，成本/电力要求与探测微量爆炸性蒸气的需要相互矛盾。其次，该系统将被设计为以稳定的方式容忍不可避免的传感器不准确和假阳性/阴性。第三，由于整个系统有赖于公众的自愿参与，传感器的操作将对用户透明，而不会造成负面的用户体验。最后，用户的隐私问题将通过保持匿名来解决，这种匿名所产生的安全威胁也将得到解决。

This project aims to empower ordinary citizens to take charge in collecting real time environmental data that can be used to serve a common interest. The target application of the project is a cyber-physical system for detecting small amounts of explosive vapor in the air so as to protect large-area public gatherings. In this system, extremely low-cost explosive sensors, handed out free of charge, will be connected to the smart phones of the willing participants, effectively turning each one of them into a look-out sensor node. Although the primary application of the proposed cyber-physical system is explosive detection, problems with similar technical challenges include air pollution monitoring systems, pandemic prevention, fire and/or gas leak monitoring. Successful completion of this project will generate a plethora of new applications that target problems with the aim of reaching a common goal by leveraging computation, power, and communications capacities donated by willing participants. Understanding that interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math)-related careers begins in elementary school, the project will use a sensor-based system that aims at locating a heat source, as part of K-12 outreach activities that explore crowd-sourced data collection, processing, and scheduling. The researchers work regularly with undergraduate and high school students through Fulton Undergraduate Research Initiative (FURI), Barrett Summer Scholars (BSS), National Science Foundation-sponsored National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network Research Experience for Undergraduates (NNIN REU), and Arizona State University's Summer Research Experience for High School Students program.Designing a system based on extremely low-cost sensors for crowd-sourced monitoring has several unique technical and scientific challenges that the project tackles. First, cost/power requirements and the need to detect tiny amounts of explosive vapor are at odds with each other. Second, the system will be designed to tolerate inevitable sensor inaccuracies and false positives/negatives in a stable manner. Third, since the entire system hinges on willing participation from the public, sensor operation will be made transparent to the user, and not create a negative user experience. Finally, privacy concerns of the users will be addressed by keeping them anonymous, and the security threats generated by this anonymity will be addressed.