Gonçalo Marques

An Indoor Monitoring System for Ambient Assisted Living Based on Internet of Things Architecture.

The study of systems and architectures for ambient assisted living (AAL) is undoubtedly a topic of great relevance given the aging of the world population. The AAL technologies are designed to meet the needs of the aging population in order to maintain their independence as long as possible. As people typically spend more than 90% of their time in indoor environments, indoor air quality (iAQ) is perceived as an imperative variable to be controlled for the inhabitants’ wellbeing and comfort. Advances in networking, sensors, and embedded devices have made it possible to monitor and provide assistance to people in their homes. The continuous technological advancements make it possible to build smart objects with great capabilities for sensing and connecting several possible advancements in ambient assisted living systems architectures. Indoor environments are characterized by several pollutant sources. Most of the monitoring frameworks instantly accessible are exceptionally costly and only permit the gathering of arbitrary examples. iAQ is an indoor air quality system based on an Internet of Things paradigm that incorporates in its construction Arduino, ESP8266, and XBee technologies for processing and data transmission and micro sensors for data acquisition. It also allows access to data collected through web access and through a mobile application in real time, and this data can be accessed by doctors in order to support medical diagnostics. Five smaller scale sensors of natural parameters (air temperature, moistness, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and glow) were utilized. Different sensors can be included to check for particular contamination. The results reveal that the system can give a viable indoor air quality appraisal in order to anticipate technical interventions for improving indoor air quality. Indeed indoor air quality might be distinctively contrasted with what is normal for a quality living environment.

Monitoring Indoor Air Quality for Enhanced Occupational Health

Indoor environments are characterized by several pollutant sources. Because people spend more than 90% of their time in indoor environments, several studies have pointed out the impact of indoor air quality on the etiopathogenesis of a wide number of non-specific symptoms which characterizes the “Sick Building Syndrome”, involving the skin, the upper and lower respiratory tract, the eyes and the nervous system, as well as many building related diseases. Thus, indoor air quality (IAQ) is recognized as an important factor to be controlled for the occupants’ health and comfort. The majority of the monitoring systems presently available is very expensive and only allow to collect random samples. This work describes the system (iAQ), a low-cost indoor air quality monitoring wireless sensor network system, developed using Arduino, XBee modules and micro sensors, for storage and availability of monitoring data on a web portal in real time. Five micro sensors of environmental parameters (air temperature, humidity, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and luminosity) were used. Other sensors can be added for monitoring specific pollutants. The results reveal that the system can provide an effective indoor air quality assessment to prevent exposure risk. In fact, the indoor air quality may be extremely different compared to what is expected for a quality living environment. Systems like this would have benefit as public health interventions to reduce the burden of symptoms and diseases related to “sick buildings”.

Health informatics for indoor air quality monitoring

Indoor environments are characterized by the existence of various pollutant sources. Moreover, at present, people spend more than 90% of their time inside buildings. Thus, the indoor air quality is undoubtedly a key factor to be controlled to ensure the health and comfort of the occupants. Most of the air quality monitoring systems on the market are very expensive and only allow to collect random samples. This paper describes iAQ, a monitoring system that uses a low cost wireless sensor network, to collect indoor air quality information. This system was developed using Arduino, XBee modules and micro sensors, for storage and availability of monitoring data in real-time. This data can be accessed through a Web portal and through a Android mobile application requiring only an internet connection. Five sensors are used for the acquisition of environmental parameters (air temperature, humidity, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and luminosity). Other sensors can be added to monitor specific pollutants. The results show that the indoor air quality may be, in some cases, quite different than expected values. The proposed system can provide effective indoor air quality assessment in order to avoid the risk of exposure to pollutant sources.

Monitoring Health Factors in Indoor Living Environments Using Internet of Things

Indoor air quality parameters are extremely important to create a productive and healthy indoor environment however in many cases the air quality parameters are very different from those defined as healthy values. Considering that we spend about 90% of our lives indoors, it is extremely important to monitor the indoor air quality in real time to detect problems in the quality of air and plan interventions in the building, or in the ventilation systems in order to improve air quality. This paper aims to present a solution for indoor air quality monitoring based in Internet of Things Architecture (IoT). This solution is composed by a hardware prototype for ambient data collection and a web and smartphone compatibility for data consulting. This system, denominated by iAQ Wi-Fi, is based on open-source technologies. It is a totality Wi-Fi system, with several advantages compared to existing systems, such as its modularity, scalability, low cost and easy installation. This system performs real-time data collection that is stored in a ThingSpeak platform. The system has smartphone compatibility which allow easier access to data in real time. In this application, the user can check the latest data collected by the system and access to the history of the air quality parameters in graphical representation. iAQ Wi-Fi uses a open-source Arduino UNO as processing unit, a ESP8266 for Wi-Fi 2.4 GHZ as communication unit and incorporates an temperature and humidity sensor, a CO2 sensor, a dust sensor and a digital light sensor as sensing unit.

Monitoring Indoor Air Quality to Improve Occupational Health

Indoor environments are characterized by several pollutant sources. As people typically spend more than 90 % of their time in indoor environments. Thus, indoor air quality (iAQ) is recognized as an important factor to be controlled for the occupants’ health and comfort. The majority of the monitoring systems presently available is very expensive and only allow to collect random samples. This work describes the system (iAQ), a low-cost indoor air quality monitoring wireless sensor network system, developed using Arduino, XBee modules and micro sensors, for storage and availability of monitoring data on a web portal in real time. Five micro sensors of environmental parameters (air temperature, humidity, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and luminosity) were used. Other sensors can be added for monitoring specific pollutants. The results reveal that the system can provide an effective indoor air quality assessment to prevent exposure risk. In fact, the indoor air quality may be extremely different compared to what is expected for a quality living environment.

Monitoring and control of the indoor environment

The time that people spend inside buildings is very significant, so the environmental quality of these spaces is recognized as an important risk factor for human health. The Internet of Things (IoT) represents a technological revolution in the ascendant that is already present in several types of equipment. Thus, combining the need to monitor environmental parameters with a view to improving occupational health, with the Internet of Things paradigm, an automatic system has been developed that allows the monitoring and control of environmental conditions in indoor spaces through the Internet. The system allows you to collect moisture, temperature and luminosity data that are stored in a structured database. Access to monitoring data is accomplished through three applications — a Web portal, an Android application, and a Desktop application. Real-time monitoring allows detection and correction of unfavorable occupational health and energy efficiency situations by controlling external devices.

A System Based on the Internet of Things for Real-Time Particle Monitoring in Buildings

Occupational health can be strongly influenced by the indoor environment as people spend 90% of their time indoors. Although indoor air quality (IAQ) is not typically monitored, IAQ parameters could be in many instances very different from those defined as healthy values. Particulate matter (PM), a complex mixture of solid and liquid particles of organic and inorganic substances suspended in the air, is considered the pollutant that affects more people. The most health-damaging particles are the ≤PM10 (diameter of 10 microns or less), which can penetrate and lodge deep inside the lungs, contributing to the risk of developing cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, as well as of lung cancer. This paper presents an Internet of Things (IoT) system for real-time PM monitoring named iDust. This system is based on a WEMOS D1 mini microcontroller and a PMS5003 PM sensor that incorporates scattering principle to measure the value of particles suspended in the air (PM10, PM2.5, and PM1.0). Through a Web dashboard for data visualization and remote notifications, the building manager can plan interventions for enhanced IAQ and ambient assisted living (AAL). Compared to other solutions the iDust is based on open-source technologies, providing a total Wi-Fi system, with several advantages such as its modularity, scalability, low cost, and easy installation. The results obtained are very promising, representing a meaningful tool on the contribution to IAQ and occupational health.

Using IoT and Social Networks for Enhanced Healthy Practices in Buildings

The health promotion is probably the most ethical, effective, efficient and sustainable approach to achieving good health. People spent more than 90% of their lives inside buildings. Therefore, it is imperative to monitor indoor parameters to identify health problems and plan interventions in buildings for enhanced occupational health. The introduction of embedded systems and the Internet of Things in the world of social networks allows new approaches to the way we access the information from these systems. By default, although we live in a social world, we interact with embedded systems and with the computer systems through web portals. This paper aims to present iAQs, a solution for real-time monitoring of indoor environmental parameters based on Internet of Things (IoT) architecture. This solution is composed of a hardware prototype for ambient data collection and a web service to publish and read information from comments on a specific Facebook page using the Facebook app (Facebook application). iAQs is based on open-source technologies providing real-time environmental monitoring system with several advantages such as modulatory, scalability and social network compatibility.

Smartwatch-Based Application for Enhanced Healthy Lifestyle in Indoor Environments

A productive and healthy environment is directly influenced by indoor air quality parameters. Therefore, is fundamental to monitor indoor air quality environments as in a great diversity of living environments the air quality can be extremely poor. Humans typically spend more than 90% of the time indoors thus is extremely important to detect air quality problems in real-time. The unceasing scientific developments turn achievable to develop systems alongside with data collection and data sharing leading to several enhancements in ambient assisted living systems architectures. In this paper, a smartwatch-based application for enhanced living environments based on Internet of Things is presented. This system incorporate a hardware prototype for data sensing denominated by iAQ Wi-Fi and a smartwatch application that provides data consulting and notifications. The iAQ Wi-Fi incorporate wireless communication technologies and offers modularity, scalability, easy installation and smartwatch compatibility. The real-time monitoring data is stored in a cloud service named ThingSpeak and can be accessed by a smartwatch application denominated by iAQ Watchapp which allow easier access to the living environment quality in real time. Using the iAQ Watchapp the regular can analyze the monitored data in numeric or chart form.

IAQ Evaluation Using an IoT CO2 Monitoring System for Enhanced Living Environments.

Indoor air quality (IAQ) parameters are not only directly related to occupational health but also have a huge impact on quality of life. In particular, besides having a very influence on the public health as it may cause a great variety of health effects such as headaches, dizziness, restlessness, difficulty breathing, increase heart rate, elevated blood pressure, coma and asphyxia, carbon dioxide (CO2) can be used as an important index of IAQ. In fact, due to people spend about 90% of our lives indoors, it is extremely important to monitor the CO2 concentration in real-time to detect problems in the IAQ in order to quickly take interventions in the building to increase the IAQ. The variation of CO2 in indoor living environments is in most situations related to the low air renewal inside buildings. CO2 levels over 1000 ppm, indicate a potential problem with indoor air. This paper aims to present iAirC a solution for CO2 real-time monitoring based on Internet of Things (IoT) architecture. This solution is composed by a hardware prototype for ambient data collection and a web and smartphone compatibility for data consulting. This system performs real-time data collection that is stored in a ThingSpeak platform and has smartphone compatibility which allows easier access to data in real time. The user can also check the latest data collected by the system and access to the history of the CO2 levels in a graphical representation. iAirC uses an open-source ESP8266 for Wi-Fi 2.4 GHZ as processing and communication unit and incorporates a CO2 sensor as sensing unit.