IndusTry 4.0/sMarT FaCTorIes Furthermore, IoT will make it possible for
commercial owners to have buildings that are energy sufficient. This influences the design of the buildings and allows them to be eco- friendly and resource efficient. Moreover, these intelligent building management systems can be remotely managed from anywhere, making it possible to replace outdated heavy construction equipment with sensors that can be controlled using indicators such as vibration and temperature fluctuations. Clearly, this saves a lot of energy and money while also reducing the maintenance costs. Finally, one of the most important impacts
that IoT can have on buildings is energy efficiency. sensor networks help to provide information that helps managers control their assets more effectively, while also reducing harmful waste in the environment. examples include:
using sensors for temperature control using actuators for HVaC controls
Complex applications like providing complete energy automation for a building
Considering weather forecasts to save real-time energy costs
air using various sensors that are part of a mesh network. These devices are connected to all areas of the building infrastructure, thereby enabling a way to keep the environment and everyone in it healthy and productive. another new trend that is expected going
forward is the use of IoT supported applications in smart buildings. a good example of this is the use of thermal imaging to allow facility managers to check if their equipment goes outside of its operating temperature range. This can be easily detected, thereby allowing maintenance to be performed before the equipment disrupts its normal operational mode. For example, IoT will transform the way commercial facility managers can track information and measure and collect data; this includes inaccessible areas that were previously too hard to reach. Installing sensors in various parts of the building will track all information that they never had access to in the past. By using IoT interconnected systems, facility managers will now have access to all pertinent information using these systems.
Figure 1. The main blocks of a typical energy harvesting system.
Wireless sensor nodes: An energy HArvesting Key ApplicAtion
a key application of energy harvesting systems is radio sensors in building automation systems. In the united states, buildings are the number one user of energy production on an annual basis, closely followed by the transportation and industrial segments. a wireless network utilising an energy
harvesting technique can link any number of sensors together in a building to reduce HVaC and electricity costs by adjusting the temperature or turning off lights to nonessential areas when the building or rooms within are unoccupied. Furthermore, the cost of energy harvesting electronics is often lower than running supply wires, or the routine maintenance required to replace batteries, so there is clearly an economic gain to be had by adopting a harvested power technique. nevertheless, many of the advantages of a wireless sensor network disappear if each
node requires its own external power source. even though ongoing power management developments have enabled electronic circuits to operate longer for a given power supply, this has its limitations, and power energy harvesting provides a complementary approach. Thus, energy harvesting is a means of powering wireless sensor nodes by converting local ambient energy into useable electrical energy. ambient energy sources include light, heat differentials, mechanical vibration, transmitted rF signals, or any source that can produce an electrical charge through a transducer. These energy sources are all around us and they can be converted into an electrical energy by using a suitable transducer, such as a thermoelectric generator (TeG) for temperature differential, a piezoelectric element for vibration, a photovoltaic cell for sunlight (or indoor lighting), and even galvanic energy from moisture. These so-called “free” energy sources can be used to autonomously power electronic components and systems. With entirely wireless sensor nodes now
capable of operating at microwatt average power levels, it is feasible to power them from nontraditional sources. This has led to energy harvesting, which provides the power to charge, supplement, or replace batteries in systems where battery use is inconvenient, impractical, expensive, or dangerous. It can also eliminate the need for wires to carry power or to transmit data. a typical energy harvesting configuration
or wireless sensor node (Wsn) is comprised of four blocks, as illustrated in Figure 1. These are:
ambient energy sources
a transducer element and a power conversion circuit to power downstream electronics
a sensing component that links the node to the physical world and a computing component consisting of a microprocessor or a microcontroller that processes measurement data and stores them in memory
a communication component consisting of a short-range radio for wireless communication with neighboring nodes and the outside world.
examples of ambient energy sources
include TeGs (or thermopiles) attached to a heat-generating source such as HVaC ducts, or a piezoelectric transducer attached to a vibrating mechanical source such as a windowpane. In the case of a heat source, a compact thermoelectric device can convert small temperature differences into electrical energy. In the case where there are
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