J. Jiménez-Leube

Cattle-Powered Node Experience in a Heterogeneous Network for Localization of Herds

A heterogeneous network, mainly based on nodes that use harvested energy to self-energize, is presented, and its use is demonstrated. The network, mostly kinetically powered, has been used for the localization of herds in grazing areas under extreme climate conditions. The network consists of secondary and primary nodes. The former, powered by a kinetic generator, take advantage of animal movements to broadcast a unique identifier. The latter are battery-powered and gather secondary-node-transmitted information to provide it, along with position and time data, to a final base station in charge of the animal monitoring. Because a limited human interaction is desirable, the aim of this network is to reduce the battery count of the system.

A Heterogeneous Wireless Identification Network for the Localization of Animals Based on Stochastic Movements

The improvement in the transmission range in wireless applications without the use of batteries remains a significant challenge in identification applications. In this paper, we describe a heterogeneous wireless identification network mostly powered by kinetic energy, which allows the localization of animals in open environments. The system relies on radio communications and a global positioning system. It is made up of primary and secondary nodes. Secondary nodes are kinetic-powered and take advantage of animal movements to activate the node and transmit a specific identifier, reducing the number of batteries of the system. Primary nodes are battery-powered and gather secondary-node transmitted information to provide it, along with position and time data, to a final base station in charge of the animal monitoring. The system allows tracking based on contextual information obtained from statistical data.

Heterogeneous collaborative sensor network for electrical management of an automated house with PV energy.

In this paper we present a heterogeneous collaborative sensor network for electrical management in the residential sector. Improving demand-side management is very important in distributed energy generation applications. Sensing and control are the foundations of the “Smart Grid” which is the future of large-scale energy management. The system presented in this paper has been developed on a self-sufficient solar house called “MagicBox” equipped with grid connection, PV generation, lead-acid batteries, controllable appliances and smart metering. Therefore, there is a large number of energy variables to be monitored that allow us to precisely manage the energy performance of the house by means of collaborative sensors. The experimental results, performed on a real house, demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed collaborative system to reduce the consumption of electrical power and to increase energy efficiency.

A distributed sensor network for the control of a bioclimatic house in Spain.

The XXI century home should be a digital habitat, a connected residence, but at the same time it should be involved in sustainability and the environment. The location of new technologies at home, and its acceptance by the user, requires, among other actions, a significant diffusion and activity to be undertaken. This work proposes the development of a Smart House network designed for its integration into a sustainable and bioclimatic solar house. The paper focuses on a specific aspect of the house design, the control system bus, developed for the management of the different parameters, variables, sensors and actuators which coexist at home. Finally, the system has been installed in a laboratory bioclimatic house. Environmental variable experiments based on the control of passive elements, such as phase shift gels, are presented. Experimental results show that the system is able to benefit from the bioclimatic elements in the house by taking into account the user preferences.

SIMS characterization of thin layers of IR and its silicides

Abstract To apply Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) to the characterization of very thin films one needs to quantify the ionic intensity signals in non-steady-state conditions, that is, when the bombardment induced atomic mixing layer is not yet completely developed. Unfortunately, there is not enough information available about the complex stabilization processes taking place when analyzing thin films of iridium silicides by SIMS. We present data for the quantitation of SIMS signals taken from these silicides and the process that we have followed to obtain and to apply them. We begin with the characterization of thick silicide layers paying special attention to the signal behavior at their interfaces, and proceed to thinner layers. Some effects related to the presence of native intermixing layers are also shown.