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The Multiscale Agile Systems Technology (MAST) Lab

A CAER-UVA-CVCC Partnership

A significant trend in electronics technology is the increasing ability to provide adaptive features into smaller and smaller electronic devices. An example of this technology trend are electronic motes.  Motes are a relatively new development in the field of wireless sensing networks but with further developments, they can become a central technology. Electronic motes are devices that can:

• Support the collection and integration of data form a variety of miniature sensors.

• Analyze the sensor data as specified by system level controls.

• Wirelessly communicate the results of their analyses to other motes, system base stations, and the internet as specified by system automation.

Motes are relatively inexpensive and have predicted price points of $2 per mote.  The mote capabilities permit the integration of large numbers of motes and sensor into wireless wide area surveillance systems at very low cost.

Motes are also sometimes referred to as smart dust. One mote is composed of a small, low powered and cheap computer connected to several sensors and a radio transmitter capable of forming adhoc networks.  The computer monitors the different sensors in a mote. These sensors can measure light, acceleration, position, stress, pressure, humidity, sound, and vibration among others. Data gathered are passed on to the radio link for transmission from mote to mote until data reaches the transmission node. One of the limiting factors in the development of motes is the battery. Although a bigger battery would mean a longer life for the mote and farther transmission capabilities for its radio link, smaller motes with smaller batteries are usually more versatile and flexible.

The application and use of motes in just about any field is limitless. They can be used in conjunction with power meters, water meters and other utility meters to transmit data automatically to a central node or to an electromagnetic truck capable of temporarily powering up the motes in a certain area. Moreover, they can be used in agriculture to give a clear picture of the temperature, humidity, water level, etc for a given location.  Motes can be embedded into structures to give constant or periodic reports on structural integrity such as salt content levels in concrete. Furthermore, motes can be used in traffic management and monitoring by placing these devices on major intersections and streets.

Motes can also be used in military applications for recon and SAD missions. In fact, one of the original developers of motes was DARPA or Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. It was here that the potential of the mote as a battlefield sensor was originally developed. In conjunction with a remotely piloted vehicle, a GPS sensor, a magnetometer and a radio transmitter, battlefield commanders would have a clear picture of the field and enemy location and thus would be able to react accordingly without resorting to the use of mines.  Other potential applications include intruder surveillance, robot-based sensor collections and manufacturing process surveillance.

However the ability to control such systems, manage battery power utilization of the elements in such systems, assure system performance and be able to rapidly reconfigure systems to assure performance under varying operating conditions requires the development of new system level management and control technologies that can be embedded onto the motes.

The wide-area multi-scale integration laboratory provides an infrastructure to support such research. The lab will be a collaboration between CAER, UVA WICAT and CVCC.  It includes SunSpot motes, passive infrared sensors, accelerometer sensors, video cameras, X-scale processors, wireless local area networks, and Internet access points that together permit system level experimentation and new technology validations.  Anticipated projects include the wireless distribution of video streams collected by large numbers of cameras to mobile users, the distribution of robot-based information collections to coordinate teams of robots, and the dynamic utilization of large numbers of motes to minimize energy utilization while sustaining necessary overall system performance requirements.