Effective And Adaptive Energy Restoration In Wrsns By A Mobile Robot

The use of a mobile charger (MC) is a popular method to restore energy in wireless rechargeable sensor networks(WRSN), whose effectiveness depends critically on the recharging strategy employed by the MC. In this thesis, we propose a novel on-line recharging mechanism strategy, called Continuous Local Learning (CLL), which predicts the current energy level of the sensor nodes and dynamically updates the schedule to visit the nodes before their batteries get depleted. The strategy is based on simple computations done by the MC with little memory requirements, and the communication is strictly local (between the MC and neighbouring nodes). In spite of its simplicity, this strategy was experimentally shown to be highly effective in keeping the network perpetually operating, ensuring that the number of sensing holes (i.e., non-operational sensors due to battery depletion) and their duration are very small at any time, and achieving immortality (i.e., no node ever becoming nonoperational) under many settings even in large networks. We also studied the flexibility of CLL under a variety of network parameters, showing its applicability in various contexts. We particularly focused on network size, data rate, sensors' battery-capacity, and speed of the MC, and studied their impact on operational size and disconnection time under a wide range of values. The experiments indicate the fact that the effectiveness of CLL holds under all considered settings. We then compared the proposed solution with the popular class of static strategies since they share with CLL the features of simplicity, strict local communication and small memory and computational requirements. Experimental results showed that CLL outperforms these strategies in effectiveness. Not only is the number of sensors that are operational at any time higher under CLL, but the average duration of a sensing hole is also significantly lower. Finally, we studied the adaptability of CLL to a network's sudden changes, in particular changes in data rate, which we call spikes. We studied the impact of spikes parameters on the performance of CLL. Experimental results showed that CLL is capable of reacting and adapting to these sudden changes with only a slight increase in non-operational size and disconnection time.

In this thesis, a variety of different approaches are proposed to study the energy restoration problem in wireless sensor networks by one or more robots. First, we introduce an on-demand decentralized strategy performed by a robot that visits the sensors in a predefined circular order. We study it both analytically and experimentally analyzing the impact of various network parameters on network coverage, disconnection time, and time sensors have to wait to be served. We then introduce an optimal centralized approach as a benchmark to assess how close to optimal our on-demand strategy is, and we discover that, for sufficiently large networks, the on-demand strategy is indeed optimal. We then propose an even simpler mechanism where the robot simply moves blindly along the circular order, which is experimentally shown to be as efficient as the other two. The results above apply to arbitrary sensor network; we then consider a common special topology: a linear arrangement of sensors, were we propose three restoring mechanisms. We compare them experimentally discovering, once again, that the simplest approach is also the best, in most cases. We finally consider the case of multiple robots. We propose two strategies where the network is portioned among the robots and each robot takes care of a portion, and we compare those with a collaborative strategy where all robots work on the global network. The main general result of this study is that simple solutions are often as good as more sophisticated ones. In fact, a totally blind strategy where a robot simply moves around restoring energy on its way turns out to be as efficient as the best possible centralized solution for most networks.

This informative text/reference presents a detailed review of the state of the art in industrial sensor and control networks. The book examines a broad range of applications, along with their design objectives and technical challenges. The coverage includes fieldbus technologies, wireless communication technologies, network architectures, and resource management and optimization for industrial networks. Discussions are also provided on industrial communication standards for both wired and wireless technologies, as well as for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Topics and features: describes the FlexRay, CAN, and Modbus fieldbus protocols for industrial control networks, as well as the MIL-STD-1553 standard; proposes a dual fieldbus approach, incorporating both CAN and ModBus fieldbus technologies, for a ship engine distributed control system; reviews a range of industrial wireless sensor network (IWSN) applications, from environmental sensing and condition monitoring, to process automation; examines the wireless networking performance, design requirements, and technical limitations of IWSN applications; presents a survey of IWSN commercial solutions and service providers, and summarizes the emerging trends in this area; discusses the latest technologies and open challenges in realizing the vision of the IIoT, highlighting various applications of the IIoT in industrial domains; introduces a logistics paradigm for adopting IIoT technology on the Physical Internet. This unique work will be of great value to all researchers involved in industrial sensor and control networks, wireless networking, and the Internet of Things.

This timely book offers a mixture of theory, experiments, and simulations that provides qualitative and quantitative insights in the field of sensor and actuator networking. The chapters are selected in a way that makes the book comprehensive and self-contained. It covers a wide range of recognized problems in sensor networks, striking a balance between theoretical and practical coverage. The book is appropriate for graduate students and practitioners working as engineers, programmers, and technologists.

The escalating demand for ubiquitous computing along with the complementary and flexible natures of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have sparked an increase in the integration of these two dynamic technologies. Although a variety of applications can be observed under development and in practical use, there

This collection of short expository, critical and speculative texts offers a field guide to the cultural, political, social and aesthetic impact of software. Experts from a range of disciplines each take a key topic in software and the understanding of software, such as algorithms and logical structures.

Ghosts and other supernatural phenomena are widely represented throughout modern culture. They can be found in any number of entertainment, commercial, and other contexts, but popular media or commodified representations of ghosts can be quite different from the beliefs people hold about them, based on tradition or direct experience. Personal belief and cultural tradition on the one hand, and popular and commercial representation on the other, nevertheless continually feed each other. They frequently share space in how people think about the supernatural. In Haunting Experiences, three well-known folklorists seek to broaden the discussion of ghost lore by examining it from a variety of angles in various modern contexts. Diane E. Goldstein, Sylvia Ann Grider, and Jeannie Banks Thomas take ghosts seriously, as they draw on contemporary scholarship that emphasizes both the basis of belief in experience (rather than mere fantasy) and the usefulness of ghost stories. They look closely at the narrative role of such lore in matters such as socialization and gender. And they unravel the complex mix of mass media, commodification, and popular culture that today puts old spirits into new contexts.

"The public lands of the western United States comprise some 450 million acres of grassland, steppe land, canyons, forests, and mountains. It's an American commons, and it is under assault as never before. Journalist Christopher Ketcham has been documenting the confluence of commercial exploitation and governmental misconduct in this region for over a decade. His revelatory book takes the reader on a journey across these last wild places, to see how capitalism is killing our great commons. Ketcham begins in Utah, revealing the environmental destruction caused by unregulated public lands livestock grazing, and exposing rampant malfeasance in the federal land management agencies, who have been compromised by the profit-driven livestock and energy interests they are supposed to regulate. He then turns to the broad effects of those corrupt politics on wildlife. He tracks the Department of Interior's failure to implement and enforce the Endangered Species Act--including its stark betrayal of protections for the grizzly bear and the sage grouse--and investigates the destructive behavior of U.S. Wildlife Services in their shocking mass slaughter of animals that threaten the livestock industry. Along the way, Ketcham talks with ecologists, biologists, botanists, former government employees, whistleblowers, grassroots environmentalists and other citizens who are fighting to protect the public domain for future generations. This Land is a colorful muckraking journey--part Edward Abbey, part Upton Sinclair--exposing the rot in American politics that is rapidly leading to the sell-out of our national heritage"--

The core use of language is in face-to-face conversation. This is characterized by rapid turn-taking. This turn-taking poses a number central puzzles for the psychology of language. Consider, for example, that in large corpora the gap between turns is on the order of 100 to 300 ms, but the latencies involved in language production require minimally between 600 ms (for a single word) or 1500 ms (for as simple sentence). This implies that participants in conversation are predicting the ends of the incoming turn and preparing in advance. But how is this done? What aspects of this prediction are done when? What happens when the prediction is wrong? What stops participants coming in too early? If the system is running on prediction, why is there consistently a mode of 100 to 300 ms in response time? The timing puzzle raises further puzzles: it seems that comprehension must run parallel with the preparation for production, but it has been presumed that there are strict cognitive limitations on more than one central process running at a time. How is this bottleneck overcome? Far from being 'easy' as some psychologists have suggested, conversation may be one of the most demanding cognitive tasks in our everyday lives. Further questions naturally arise: how do children learn to master this demanding task, and what is the developmental trajectory in this domain? Research shows that aspects of turn-taking, such as its timing, are remarkably stable across languages and cultures, but the word order of languages varies enormously. How then does prediction of the incoming turn work when the verb (often the informational nugget in a clause) is at the end? Conversely, how can production work fast enough in languages that have the verb at the beginning, thereby requiring early planning of the whole clause? What happens when one changes modality, as in sign languages – with the loss of channel constraints is turn-taking much freer? And what about face-to-face communication amongst hearing individuals – do gestures, gaze, and other body behaviors facilitate turn-taking? One can also ask the phylogenetic question: how did such a system evolve? There seem to be parallels (analogies) in duetting bird species, and in a variety of monkey species, but there is little evidence of anything like this among the great apes. All this constitutes a neglected set of problems at the heart of the psychology of language and of the language sciences. This Research Topic contributes to advancing our understanding of these problems by summarizing recent work from psycholinguists, developmental psychologists, students of dialog and conversation analysis, linguists, phoneticians, and comparative ethologists.

#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER What does everyone in the modern world need to know? Renowned psychologist Jordan B. Peterson's answer to this most difficult of questions uniquely combines the hard-won truths of ancient tradition with the stunning revelations of cutting-edge scientific research. Humorous, surprising and informative, Dr. Peterson tells us why skateboarding boys and girls must be left alone, what terrible fate awaits those who criticize too easily, and why you should always pet a cat when you meet one on the street. What does the nervous system of the lowly lobster have to tell us about standing up straight (with our shoulders back) and about success in life? Why did ancient Egyptians worship the capacity to pay careful attention as the highest of gods? What dreadful paths do people tread when they become resentful, arrogant and vengeful? Dr. Peterson journeys broadly, discussing discipline, freedom, adventure and responsibility, distilling the world's wisdom into 12 practical and profound rules for life. 12 Rules for Life shatters the modern commonplaces of science, faith and human nature, while transforming and ennobling the mind and spirit of its readers.