CEM508 Wireless Sensor Network and Technologies

Instructors: Dr Chan Toong Khuan, Dr Woon Wei Lee, Dr Daniel Wong Kuok-Shoong

An inter-disciplinary studio/project class in which to explore Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) technology and the potential to monitor and control physical infrastructure (environmental, structural, energy transmission networks, etc). The course is intended to provide insight to the practical issues of how wireless sensors function and how to take WSN technology "out of the lab" and into the real-world.

The course will be presented in the form of lectures on Electronics, micro-processor, and communication principles to enable construction and use of a prototype wireless sensor device. Specific sensor devices will be procured or developed as part of the project. TinyOS will be used to develop application layer software.

Students will review and critique of selected research papers related to WSN principles and practical real-world deployment issues. Topics include: WSN applications, programming using TinyOs, energy harvesting, practical scaling of WSN, environmental conditions, reliability, and sustainability.

Introductory labs/tutorials for the software/hardware will be provided to assist students in the development of their projects. A set of custom developed Open Architecture prototyping motes will be available for the project. These motes are designed to use TinyOS.

The class is strongly research oriented and students are expected to be independent, self-motivated, and to enjoy being creative. There are no prerequisites but a familiarity with fundamentals of electronics is desirable.