Roberto Vergallo

Integration of RFID and WSN technologies in a Smart Parking System

In this paper, a Smart Parking System (SPS) based on the integration of Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and IEEE 802.15.4 Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) technologies is presented. The system is able to collect information about the occupancy state of parking spaces, and to direct drivers to the nearest vacant parking spot by using a customized software application. Such application also leverages an NFC-based e-wallet system to allow users to pay for the parking fee. Furthermore, a software application based on RESTful Java and Google Cloud Messaging (GCM) technologies has been installed on a Central Server in order to manage alert events (e.g. improper use of a reserved space or expiration of the purchased time). In such a case, it promptly informs the traffic cops through an Android mobile app, which has been designed ad hoc for the considered scenario. A proof-of-concept has demonstrated that the proposed solution can meet the real requirements of a SPS.

An RFID-Based Tracing and Tracking System for the Fresh Vegetables Supply Chain

The paper presents an innovative gapless traceability system able to improve the main business processes of the fresh vegetables supply chain. The performed analysis highlighted some critical aspects in the management of the whole supply chain, from the land to the table of the end consumer, and allowed us to reengineer the most important processes. In particular, the first steps of the supply chain, which include cultivation in greenhouses and manufacturing of packaged vegetables, were analyzed. The re-engineered model was designed by exploiting the potentialities derived from the combined use of innovative Radio Frequency technologies, such as RFID and NFC, and important international standards, such as EPCglobal. The proposed tracing and tracking system allows the end consumer to know the complete history of the purchased product. Furthermore, in order to evaluate the potential benefits of the reengineered processes in a real supply chain, a pilot project was implemented in an Italian food company, which produces ready-to-eat vegetables, known as IV gamma products. Finally, some important metrics have been chosen to carry out the analysis of the potential benefits derived from the use of the re-engineered model.

Web of Topics: An IoT-aware model-driven designing approach

In the Internet of Things, the extreme heterogeneity of sensors, actuators and user devices calls for new tools and design models able to translate the users needs in machine-understandable scenarios. The scientific community has proposed different solution for such issue, e.g., the MQTT (MQ Telemetry Transport) protocol introduced the topic concept as “the key that identifies the information channel to which payload data is published”. This study extends the topic approach by proposing the Web of Topics (WoX), a conceptual model for the IoT. A WoX Topic is identified by two coordinates: (i) a discrete semantic feature of interest (e.g. temperature, humidity), and (ii) a URI-based location. An IoT entity defines its role within a Topic by specifying its technological and collaborative dimensions. By this approach, it is easier to define an IoT entity as a set of couples Topic-Role. In order to prove the effectiveness of the WoX approach, we developed the WoX APIs on top of an EPCglobal implementation. Then, 10 developers were asked to build a WoX-based application supporting a physics lab scenario at school. They also filled out an ex-ante and an ex-post questionnaire. A set of qualitative and quantitative metrics allowed measuring the models outcome.

A Smart Parking System based on IoT protocols and emerging enabling technologies

Enabling a sustainable mobility is one of primary goals of the so-called Smart City vision, and the development of intelligent parking systems represents a key aspect. To this purpose, this paper presents a novel Smart Parking System based on the jointly use of different technologies, such as RFID, WSN, NFC, Cloud, and mobile. It is able to collect, in real time, both environmental parameters and information about the occupancy state of parking spaces, and to direct drivers to the nearest vacant parking spot by using a customized software application. This last one leverages a NFC-based e-wallet system to allow users to pay for parking fees. Furthermore, a customized software application, installed on a cloud platform, is able to manage alert events (e.g. improper use of a reserved space or expiration of the purchased time). In such a case, it promptly informs the traffic cops through an Android mobile app, which has been designed ad hoc for the considered scenario.

An ambient assisted living system for elderly assistance applications

In last few years, the number of elderly people is more and more increasing. Consequently, various efforts were made in order to improve the quality of lifestyle for the elderly. Related to this issue, an Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) works to create better living conditions for older or disable people. AAL systems are able to continuously monitor the health status of the elderly through data coming from heterogeneous sensors. In this paper, we propose an AAL architecture for the monitoring of elderly people, able to guarantee the collection of heterogeneous sensor data as well as the detection of critical events such as the older adult fall. A remote reasoning system processes this data with the aim of generating appropriate events. In order to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed architecture, a proof of concept was used and validation functional tests were carried out.

Structuring repositories of educational experiences: A case study

Until now, a large amount of effort has been spent on structuring educational repositories. During the years, standard formats to describe learning resources have been provided, reference content models to exchange them among repositories and between repositories and Learning Management Systems have been specified, large repositories have been deployed both from academia and from private organizations (as IEEE and ACM, for example). Researchers observe that open and widely available educational resources can significantly reduce the time required to prepare lectures; other authors argue that repositories facilitate education, combining different learning style theories with technology preferences. The focus is mainly on learning content. In this paper we give a different perspectives on repositories for education, having as a central point the educational experience. We report on a case study we are completing structuring a repository to collect credible evidence from Italian teachers who create innovation in schools using technology. We describe the technical issues we encountered developing an online repository of hundreds of experiences, carried out in classes of all levels of schooling, where technology was skillfully combined with pedagogical solutions to generate substantial educational benefits.

Classroom 3.0: The Real World Meets the Virtuality through Ambient Sensing in Education

Nowadays, Web 2.0 applications -- such as wikis, blogs, online forums and content repositories -- have been widely adopted to support learning in higher education. Nevertheless, such tools still remain an add-on for traditional education and we are quite far from having a computer revolution in the educational field, i.e. something that can definitively alter the way of teaching in schools. Virtual and mixed reality brings learning to a further step, but the interactions with the real world are strictly limited to a few perceptions (location awareness, chats and callings between virtual and/or on-site actors). New Information and Communication technologies such as Radio Frequency IDentification and Wireless Sensors Network, along with popular commercial devices such as smartphone, tablet and video game consoles can enhance the engagement of pupils and lead to a set of education benefits. My research aims to build a Classroom 3.0, in which not only humans but also computer agents can interact with the environment.

Combining EPCglobal and HL7 to deploy innovative e-health services for patients affected by multiple intolerances

ICT technologies are going to play more and more a fundamental role in the healthcare scenario. They aim to implement innovative e-health services able to improve patient safety and quality of care. Particular attention is focused on patients affected by multiple intolerances. This people struggle every day to perform elementary actions such as the choice of food and/or drugs because of the adverse reactions that particular components could cause if taken. New item-level tracing systems based on RFID and EPCglobal are very important and able to face these problems but they do not represent yet a complete solution. In fact, a very interesting challenge in the e-healthcare field is currently focused on the combining of tracing systems with hospital information systems, compliant to HL7 (Health Level Seven). In this paper, a prototypal ICT system able to support medical and nutritional applications, based on the combining of the two different standards EPCglobal and HL7, is shown exploiting a concrete case study in the immunology field. Potential benefits, derived from new e-health services for the main actors (e.g. doctors, pharmacists, patients, etc.), are discussed in order to define attractive future research works.

A new vehicle-to-grid system for battery charging exploiting IoT protocols

The continuously rising demand for electricity has prompted governments and industries to research more effective energy management systems. The Internet of Things paradigm is a valuable add-on for controlling and managing the energy appliances such as Plug-in Electrical Vehicles (PEV) charging stations. In this paper, we present a Demand Response implementation for PEV charging stations able to use Wireless Sensor Network technologies based on the Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP). We developed a self-service kiosk system by which the user can autonomously swipe his/her credit card and choose the charging station to enable. When a user plugs his/her vehicle to the station, s/he subscribes his availability to share a portion of its energy. When the grid requests a contribution from the PEVs, the kiosk sends a CoAP message to the available stations and the energy flow is inverted (Vehicle-to-Grid). At the end of the charging process, the users credit card gets charged with a discounted bill.

WoX: Model-Driven Development of Web of Things Applications

Abstract Nodes of the Internet of Things (IoT) are heterogeneous: Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Near Field Communication (NFC), Wireless Sensors Networks (WSN), Konnex (KNX), just to name the most popular. IoT clients are heterogeneous too: mobile apps, laptops, enterprise applications, business processes instances, not to mention that even IoT nodes can be clients for other nodes. In this many-to-many relationship scenario, developing a seamless IoT system is arduous even for a specialized developer. All the more so, enable non-technical people to autonomously define innovative IoT-based scenarios is far from being trivial. This calls for the definition of a common design model shared by all the IoT stakeholder: device manufacturers, developers, stakeholders, business entities, end users. The Web of Things (WoT) paradigm has brought the IoT a step closer to the people perception, because it allows treating a networked thing as a Web resource. Nevertheless, sharing a common application layer protocol on top of the physical “things” does not guarantee that IoT application will be fast-developed, robust and easily evolvable. REST APIs definition for the IoT objects is left to the individual developer. Technological needs may vary along the application lifecycle. Stakeholders are often interested in virtual or aggregated environment features, rather than the single networked thing. To overcome these open issues, we think that it is needed an additional abstraction level between the WoT and the application layer. This should be model-driven – in order this to be adequately agreed by all the IoT stakeholders – and topic-based – because of the event-driven nature of the IoT. In this work we propose Web of Topics (WoX), a Cloud platform for the Internet of (every)Thing (IoE). WoX APIs allows companies and organisations to realise robust and high-maintainable IoT-based services, while minimising deployment costs and the time-to-market. Its model-driven approach guarantees a great end-user experience and a seamless integration among the heterogeneous IoT entities. In this book chapter we present the WoX model and the concrete architecture supporting it. As a proof of concept, in this work we also show how we implemented an original IoT scenarios using the WoX concepts, APIs and architecture: the airport short-stay parking service.