We present an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) CMOS chip that implements a synchronized oscillator cellular neural network with a matrix size of 32 × 32 for object sensing and labeling in binary images. Networks of synchronized oscillators are a recently developed tool for image segmentation and analysis. Its parallel network operation is based on a “temporary correlation” theory that attempts to describe scene recognition as if performed by the human brain. The synchronized oscillations of neuron groups attract a person’s attention if he or she is focused on a coherent stimulus (image object). For more than one perceived stimulus, these synchronized patterns switch in time between different neuron groups, thus forming temporal maps that code several features of the analyzed scene. In this paper, a new oscillator circuit based on a mathematical model is proposed, and the network architecture and chip functional blocks are presented and discussed. The proposed chip is implemented in AMIS 0.35 mm C035M-D 5M/1P technology. An application of the proposed network chip for the segmentation of insulin-producing pancreatic islets in magnetic resonance liver images is presented. Full article

For mission-critical applications of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) involving extensive battlefield surveillance, medical healthcare, etc., it is crucial to have low-power, new protocols, methodologies and structures for transferring data and information in a network with full sensing coverage capability for an extended working period. The upmost mission is to ensure that the network is fully functional providing reliable transmission of the sensed data without the risk of data loss. WSNs have been applied to various types of mission-critical applications. Coverage preservation is one of the most essential functions to guarantee quality of service (QoS) in WSNs. However, a tradeoff exists between sensing coverage and network lifetime due to the limited energy supplies of sensor nodes. In this study, we propose a routing protocol to accommodate both energy-balance and coverage-preservation for sensor nodes in WSNs. The energy consumption for radio transmissions and the residual energy over the network are taken into account when the proposed protocol determines an energy-efficient route for a packet. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed protocol is able to increase the duration of the on-duty network and provide up to 98.3% and 85.7% of extra service time with 100% sensing coverage ratio comparing with LEACH and the LEACH-Coverage-U protocols, respectively. Full article

This paper presents a benchmark for peak detection algorithms employed in fiber Bragg grating spectrometric interrogation systems. The accuracy, precision, and computational performance of currently used algorithms and those of a new proposed artificial neural network algorithm are compared. Centroid and gaussian fitting algorithms are shown to have the highest precision but produce systematic errors that depend on the FBG refractive index modulation profile. The proposed neural network displays relatively good precision with reduced systematic errors and improved computational performance when compared to other networks. Additionally, suitable algorithms may be chosen with the general guidelines presented. Full article

A monolithic silica gel matrix with entrapped glucose oxidase (GOD) was constructed as a bioactive element in an optical biosensor for glucose determination. Intrinsic fluorescence of free and immobilised GOD was investigated in the visible range in presence of different glucose concentrations by time-resolved spectroscopy with time-correlated single-photon counting detector. A three-exponential model was used for analysing the fluorescence transients. Fractional intensities and mean lifetime were shown to be sensitive to the enzymatic reaction and were used for obtaining calibration curve for glucose concentration determination. The sensing system proposed achieved high resolution (up to 0:17 mM) glucose determination with a detection range from 0:4 mM to 5 mM. Full article

With the advances in micro-electronics, wireless sensor devices have been made much smaller and more integrated, and large-scale wireless sensor networks (WSNs) based the cooperation among the significant amount of nodes have become a hot topic. “Large-scale” means mainly large area or high density of a network. Accordingly the routing protocols must scale well to the network scope extension and node density increases. A sensor node is normally energy-limited and cannot be recharged, and thus its energy consumption has a quite significant effect on the scalability of the protocol. To the best of our knowledge, currently the mainstream methods to solve the energy problem in large-scale WSNs are the hierarchical routing protocols. In a hierarchical routing protocol, all the nodes are divided into several groups with different assignment levels. The nodes within the high level are responsible for data aggregation and management work, and the low level nodes for sensing their surroundings and collecting information. The hierarchical routing protocols are proved to be more energy-efficient than flat ones in which all the nodes play the same role, especially in terms of the data aggregation and the flooding of the control packets. With focus on the hierarchical structure, in this paper we provide an insight into routing protocols designed specifically for large-scale WSNs. According to the different objectives, the protocols are generally classified based on different criteria such as control overhead reduction, energy consumption mitigation and energy balance. In order to gain a comprehensive understanding of each protocol, we highlight their innovative ideas, describe the underlying principles in detail and analyze their advantages and disadvantages. Moreover a comparison of each routing protocol is conducted to demonstrate the differences between the protocols in terms of message complexity, memory requirements, localization, data aggregation, clustering manner and other metrics. Finally some open issues in routing protocol design in large-scale wireless sensor networks and conclusions are proposed. Full article

This paper is focused on the study of the energy hole problem in the Progressive Multi-hop Rotational Clustered (PMRC)-structure, a highly scalable wireless sensor network (WSN) architecture. Based on an analysis on the traffic load distribution in PMRC-based WSNs, we propose a novel load-similar node distribution strategy combined with the Minimum Overlapping Layers (MOL) scheme to address the energy hole problem in PMRC-based WSNs. In this strategy, sensor nodes are deployed in the network area according to the load distribution. That is, more nodes shall be deployed in the range where the average load is higher, and then the loads among different areas in the sensor network tend to be balanced. Simulation results demonstrate that the load-similar node distribution strategy prolongs network lifetime and reduces the average packet latency in comparison with existing nonuniform node distribution and uniform node distribution strategies. Note that, besides the PMRC structure, the analysis model and the proposed load-similar node distribution strategy are also applicable to other multi-hop WSN structures. Full article

Cloud computing is a new information technology trend that moves computing and data away from desktops and portable PCs into large data centers. The basic principle of cloud computing is to deliver applications as services over the Internet as well as infrastructure. A cloud is a type of parallel and distributed system consisting of a collection of inter-connected and virtualized computers that are dynamically provisioned and presented as one or more unified computing resources. The large-scale distributed applications on a cloud require adaptive service-based software, which has the capability of monitoring system status changes, analyzing the monitored information, and adapting its service configuration while considering tradeoffs among multiple QoS features simultaneously. In this paper, we design and develop a Run-Time Monitor (RTM) which is a system software to monitor the application behavior at run-time, analyze the collected information, and optimize cloud computing resources for multi-core architectures. RTM monitors application software through library instrumentation as well as underlying hardware through a performance counter optimizing its computing configuration based on the analyzed data. Full article

In this paper, we propose a solution to the problem of guaranteed time slot allocation in cluster-tree WSNs. Our design uses the so-called Network Utility Maximization (NUM) approach as far as we aim to provide a fair distribution of the available resources. From the point of view of implementation, we extend here the authors’ proposed Coupled-Decompositions Method (CDM) in order to compute the NUM problem inside the cluster tree topology and we prove the optimality of this new extended version of the method. As a result, we obtain a distributed solution that reduces the total amount of signalling information in the network up to a factor of 500 with respect to the classical techniques, that is, primal and dual decomposition. This is possible because the CDM finds the optimal solution with a small number of iterations. Furthermore, when we compare our solution to the standard-proposed First Come First Serve (FCFS) policy, we realize that FCFS becomes pretty unfair as the traffic load in the network increases and thus, a fair allocation of resources can be considered whenever the price to pay in terms of signalling and computational complexity is controlled. Full article

Dew condensation on the leaf surface of greenhouse crops can promote diseases caused by fungus and bacteria, affecting the growth of the crops. In this paper, we present a WSN (Wireless Sensor Network)-based automatic monitoring system to prevent dew condensation in a greenhouse environment. The system is composed of sensor nodes for collecting data, base nodes for processing collected data, relay nodes for driving devices for adjusting the environment inside greenhouse and an environment server for data storage and processing. Using the Barenbrug formula for calculating the dew point on the leaves, this system is realized to prevent dew condensation phenomena on the crop’s surface acting as an important element for prevention of diseases infections. We also constructed a physical model resembling the typical greenhouse in order to verify the performance of our system with regard to dew condensation control. Full article

Different psychophysical works have reported that, when a wide range of odors is assessed, the hedonic dimension is the most salient. Hence, pleasantness is the most basic attribute of odor perception. Recent studies suggest that the molecular size of a given odorant is positively correlated with its hedonic character. This correlation was confirmed in the present study, but further basic molecular features affecting pleasantness were identified by means of multiple linear regression for the compounds contained in five chemical sets. For three of them, hedonic judgments are available in the literature. For a further two chemical sets, hedonic scores were estimated from odor character descriptions based on numerical profiles. Generally speaking, fairly similar equations were obtained for the prediction of hedonic judgments in the five chemical sets, with R² values ranging from 0.46 to 0.71. The results suggest that larger molecules containing oxygen are more likely to be perceived as pleasant, while the opposite applies to carboxylic acids and sulfur compounds. Full article

Micro reformers still face obstacles in minimizing their size, decreasing the concentration of CO, conversion efficiency and the feasibility of integrated fabrication with fuel cells. By using a micro temperature sensor fabricated on a stainless steel-based micro reformer, this work attempts to measure the inner temperature and increase the conversion efficiency. Micro temperature sensors on a stainless steel substrate are fabricated using micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) and then placed separately inside the micro reformer. Micro temperature sensors are characterized by their higher accuracy and sensitivity than those of a conventional thermocouple. To the best of our knowledge, micro temperature sensors have not been embedded before in micro reformers and commercial products, therefore, this work presents a novel approach to integrating micro temperature sensors in a stainless steel-based micro reformer in order to evaluate inner local temperature distributions and enhance reformer performance. Full article

Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs) consist of a limited number of battery operated nodes that are used to monitor the vital signs of a patient over long periods of time without restricting the patient’s movements. They are an easy and fast way to diagnose the patient’s status and to consult the doctor. Device as well as network lifetime are among the most important factors in a WBAN. Prolonging the lifetime of the WBAN strongly depends on controlling the energy consumption of sensor nodes. To achieve energy efficiency, low duty cycle MAC protocols are used, but for medical applications, especially in the case of pacemakers where data have time-limited relevance, these protocols increase latency which is highly undesirable and leads to system instability. In this paper, we propose a low power MAC protocol (VLPM) based on existing wakeup radio approaches which reduce energy consumption as well as improving the response time of a node. We categorize the traffic into uplink and downlink traffic. The nodes are equipped with both a low power wake-up transmitter and receiver. The low power wake-up receiver monitors the activity on channel all the time with a very low power and keeps the MCU (Micro Controller Unit) along with main radio in sleep mode. When a node [BN or BNC (BAN Coordinator)] wants to communicate with another node, it uses the low-power radio to send a wakeup packet, which will prompt the receiver to power up its primary radio to listen for the message that follows shortly. The wake-up packet contains the desired node’s ID along with some other information to let the targeted node to wake-up and take part in communication and let all other nodes to go to sleep mode quickly. The VLPM protocol is proposed for applications having low traffic conditions. For high traffic rates, optimization is needed. Analytical results show that the proposed protocol outperforms both synchronized and unsynchronized MAC protocols like T-MAC, SCP-MAC, B-MAC and X-MAC in terms of energy consumption and response time. Full article

This paper presents a complete procedure for sensor compatibility correction of a fixed-wing Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV). The sensors consist of a differential air pressure transducer for airspeed measurement, two airdata vanes installed on an airdata probe for angle of attack (AoA) and angle of sideslip (AoS) measurement, and an Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS) that provides attitude angles, angular rates, and acceleration. The procedure is mainly based on a two pass algorithm called the Rauch-Tung-Striebel (RTS) smoother, which consists of a forward pass Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) and a backward recursion smoother. On top of that, this paper proposes the implementation of the Wiener Type Filter prior to the RTS in order to avoid the complicated process noise covariance matrix estimation. Furthermore, an easy to implement airdata measurement noise variance estimation method is introduced. The method estimates the airdata and subsequently the noise variances using the ground speed and ascent rate provided by the Global Positioning System (GPS). It incorporates the idea of data regionality by assuming that some sort of statistical relation exists between nearby data points. Root mean square deviation (RMSD) is being employed to justify the sensor compatibility. The result shows that the presented procedure is easy to implement and it improves the UAV sensor data compatibility significantly. Full article

Head blight on wheat, caused by Fusarium spp., is a serious problem for both farmers and food production due to the concomitant production of highly toxic mycotoxins in infected cereals. For selective mycotoxin analyses, information about the on-field status of infestation would be helpful. Early symptom detection directly on ears, together with the corresponding geographic position, would be important for selective harvesting. Hence, the capabilities of various digital imaging methods to detect head blight disease on winter wheat were tested. Time series of images of healthy and artificially Fusarium-infected ears were recorded with a laboratory hyperspectral imaging system (wavelength range: 400 nm to 1,000 nm). Disease-specific spectral signatures were evaluated with an imaging software. Applying the ‘Spectral Angle Mapper’ method, healthy and infected ear tissue could be clearly classified. Simultaneously, chlorophyll fluorescence imaging of healthy and infected ears, and visual rating of the severity of disease was performed. Between six and eleven days after artificial inoculation, photosynthetic efficiency of infected compared to healthy ears decreased. The severity of disease highly correlated with photosynthetic efficiency. Above an infection limit of 5% severity of disease, chlorophyll fluorescence imaging reliably recognised infected ears. With this technique, differentiation of the severity of disease was successful in steps of 10%. Depending on the quality of chosen regions of interests, hyperspectral imaging readily detects head blight 7 d after inoculation up to a severity of disease of 50%. After beginning of ripening, healthy and diseased ears were hardly distinguishable with the evaluated methods. Full article

This paper presents a fast, highly sensitive and low-cost tapered optical fiber biosensor that enables the label-free detection of biomolecules. The sensor takes advantage of the interference effect between the fiber’s first two propagation modes along the taper waist region. The biomolecules bonded on the taper surface were determined by demodulating the transmission spectrum phase shift. Because of the sharp spectrum fringe signals, as well as a relatively long biomolecule testing region, the sensor displayed a fast response and was highly sensitive. To better understand the influence of various biomolecules on the sensor, a numerical simulation that varied biolayer parameters such as thickness and refractive index was performed. The results showed that the spectrum fringe shift was obvious to be measured even when the biolayer was only nanometers thick. A microchannel chip was designed and fabricated for the protection of the sensor and biotesting. Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) fabrication techniques were used to precisely control the profile and depth of the microchannel on the silicon chip with an accuracy of 2 μm. A tapered optical fiber biosensor was fabricated and evaluated with an Immune globulin G (IgG) antibody-antigen pair. Full article

An approach to an inhibition bioelectronic tongue is presented. The work is focused on development of an automated flow system to carry out experimental assays, a custom potentiostat to measure the response from an enzymatic biosensor, and an inhibition protocol which allows on-line detections. A Multi-commuted Flow Analysis system (MCFA) was selected and developed to carry out assays with an improved inhibition method to detect the insecticides chlorpyrifos oxon (CPO), chlorfenvinfos (CFV) and azinphos methyl-oxon (AZMO). The system manifold comprised a peristaltic pump, a set of seven electronic valves controlled by a personal computer electronic interface and software based on LabView® to control the sample dilutions into the cell. The inhibition method consists in the injection of the insecticide when the enzyme activity has reached the plateau of the current; with this method the incubation time is avoided. A potentiostat was developed to measure the response from the enzymatic biosensor. Low limits of detection of 10 nM for CPO, CFV, and AZMO were achieved. Full article

In this paper, a method for three-dimensional modeling of tea-shoots with images and calculation models is introduced. The process is as follows: the tea shoots are photographed with a camera, color space conversion is conducted, using an improved algorithm that is based on color and regional growth to divide the tea shoots in the images, and the edges of the tea shoots extracted with the help of edge detection; after that, using the divided tea-shoot images, the three-dimensional coordinates of the tea shoots are worked out and the feature parameters extracted, matching and calculation conducted according to the model database, and finally the three-dimensional modeling of tea-shoots is completed. According to the experimental results, this method can avoid a lot of calculations and has better visual effects and, moreover, performs better in recovering the three-dimensional information of the tea shoots, thereby providing a new method for monitoring the growth of and non-destructive testing of tea shoots. Full article

This paper describes a robust and simple algorithm for an attitude and heading reference system (AHRS) based on low-cost MEMS inertial and magnetic sensors. The proposed approach relies on a gain-scheduled complementary filter, augmented by an acceleration-based switching architecture to yield robust performance, even when the vehicle is subject to strong accelerations. Experimental results are provided for a road captive test during which the vehicle dynamics are in high-acceleration mode and the performance of the proposed filter is evaluated against the output from a conventional linear complementary filter. Full article

Species identification and characterization in tropical environments is an emerging field in tropical remote sensing. Significant efforts are currently aimed at the detection of tree species, of levels of forest successional stages, and the extent of liana occurrence at the top of canopies. In this paper we describe our use of high resolution imagery from the Quickbird Satellite to estimate the flowering population of Tabebuia guayacan trees at Barro Colorado Island (BCI), in Panama. The imagery was acquired on 29 April 2002 and 21 March 2004. Spectral Angle Mapping via a One-Class Support Vector machine was used to detect the presence of 422 and 557 flowering tress in the April 2002 and March 2004 imagery. Of these, 273 flowering trees are common to both dates. This study presents a new perspective on the effectiveness of high resolution remote sensing for monitoring a phenological response and its use as a tool for potential conservation and management of natural resources in tropical environments. Full article

The IEEE 802.15.4 Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol is an enabling standard for wireless sensor networks. In order to support applications requiring dedicated bandwidth or bounded delay, it provides a reservation-based scheme named Guaranteed Time Slot (GTS). However, the GTS scheme presents some drawbacks, such as inefficient bandwidth utilization and support to a maximum of only seven devices. This paper presents eLPRT (enhanced Low Power Real Time), a new reservation-based MAC protocol that introduces several performance enhancing features in comparison to the GTS scheme. This MAC protocol builds on top of LPRT (Low Power Real Time) and includes various mechanisms designed to increase data transmission reliability against channel errors, improve bandwidth utilization and increase the number of supported devices. A motion capture system based on inertial and magnetic sensors has been used to validate the protocol. The effectiveness of the performance enhancements introduced by each of the new features is demonstrated through the provision of both simulation and experimental results. Full article

This paper outlines the grand challenges in global sustainability research and the objectives of the FP7 Future Internet PPP program within the Digital Agenda for Europe. Large user communities are generating significant amounts of valuable environmental observations at local and regional scales using the devices and services of the Future Internet. These communities’ environmental observations represent a wealth of information which is currently hardly used or used only in isolation and therefore in need of integration with other information sources. Indeed, this very integration will lead to a paradigm shift from a mere Sensor Web to an Observation Web with semantically enriched content emanating from sensors, environmental simulations and citizens. The paper also describes the research challenges to realize the Observation Web and the associated environmental enablers for the Future Internet. Such an environmental enabler could for instance be an electronic sensing device, a web-service application, or even a social networking group affording or facilitating the capability of the Future Internet applications to consume, produce, and use environmental observations in cross-domain applications. The term “envirofied” Future Internet is coined to describe this overall target that forms a cornerstone of work in the Environmental Usage Area within the Future Internet PPP program. Relevant trends described in the paper are the usage of ubiquitous sensors (anywhere), the provision and generation of information by citizens, and the convergence of real and virtual realities to convey understanding of environmental observations. The paper addresses the technical challenges in the Environmental Usage Area and the need for designing multi-style service oriented architecture. Key topics are the mapping of requirements to capabilities, providing scalability and robustness with implementing context aware information retrieval. Another essential research topic is handling data fusion and model based computation, and the related propagation of information uncertainty. Approaches to security, standardization and harmonization, all essential for sustainable solutions, are summarized from the perspective of the Environmental Usage Area. The paper concludes with an overview of emerging, high impact applications in the environmental areas concerning land ecosystems (biodiversity), air quality (atmospheric conditions) and water ecosystems (marine asset management). Full article

For large-scale wireless sensor networks (WSNs) with a minority of anchor nodes, multi-hop localization is a popular scheme for determining the geographical positions of the normal nodes. However, in practice existing multi-hop localization methods suffer from various kinds of problems, such as poor adaptability to irregular topology, high computational complexity, low positioning accuracy, etc. To address these issues in this paper, we propose a novel Multi-hop Localization algorithm based on Grid‑Scanning (MLGS). First, the factors that influence the multi-hop distance estimation are studied and a more realistic multi-hop localization model is constructed. Then, the feasible regions of the normal nodes are determined according to the intersection of bounding square rings. Finally, a verifiably good approximation scheme based on grid-scanning is developed to estimate the coordinates of the normal nodes. Additionally, the positioning accuracy of the normal nodes can be improved through neighbors’ collaboration. Extensive simulations are performed in isotropic and anisotropic networks. The comparisons with some typical algorithms of node localization confirm the effectiveness and efficiency of our algorithm. Full article

The real world phenomena being observed by sensors are generally non-stationary in nature. The classical linear techniques for analysis and modeling natural time-series observations are inefficient and should be replaced by non-linear techniques of whose theoretical aspects and performances are varied. In this manner adopting the most appropriate technique and strategy is essential in evaluating sensors’ data. In this study, two different time-series analysis approaches, namely least squares spectral analysis (LSSA) and wavelet analysis (continuous wavelet transform, cross wavelet transform and wavelet coherence algorithms as extensions of wavelet analysis), are applied to sea-level observations recorded by tide-gauge sensors, and the advantages and drawbacks of these methods are reviewed. The analyses were carried out using sea-level observations recorded at the Antalya-II and Erdek tide-gauge stations of the Turkish National Sea-Level Monitoring System. In the analyses, the useful information hidden in the noisy signals was detected, and the common features between the two sea-level time series were clarified. The tide-gauge records have data gaps in time because of issues such as instrumental shortcomings and power outages. Concerning the difficulties of the time-frequency analysis of data with voids, the sea-level observations were preprocessed, and the missing parts were predicted using the neural network method prior to the analysis. In conclusion the merits and limitations of the techniques in evaluating non-stationary observations by means of tide-gauge sensors records were documented and an analysis strategy for the sequential sensors observations was presented. Full article

A high-sensitivity mechano-luminescent sensor was fabricated on the basis of piezoelectric/electroluminescent composites. The working principle of this mechano-luminescent sensor was elucidated by analyzing the relationship between the piezoelectric-induced charges and the electroluminescent effects. When a stress is applied on the piezoelectric layer, electrical charges will be induced at both the top and bottom sides of the piezoelectric layer. The induced electrical charges will lead to a light output from the electroluminescent layer, thus producing a mechano-luminescence effect. By increasing the vibration strength or frequency applied, the mechano-luminescence output can be obviously enhanced. Mechano-luminescence sensors have potential in smart stress-to-light devices, such as foot-stress-distribution-diagnosis systems and dynamic-load-monitors for bridge hanging cables. Full article

A Nafion-Graphene (Nafion-G) nanocomposite solution in combination with an in situ plated mercury film electrode was used as a highly sensitive electrochemical platform for the determination of Zn²⁺, Cd²⁺, Pb²⁺ and Cu²⁺ in 0.1 M acetate buffer (pH 4.6) by square-wave anodic stripping voltammetry (SWASV). Various operational parameters such as deposition potential, deposition time and electrode rotation speed were optimized. The Nafion-G nanocomposite sensing platform exhibited improved sensitivity for metal ion detection, in addition to well defined, reproducible and sharp stripping signals. The linear calibration curves ranged from 1 µg L⁻¹ to 7 µg L⁻¹ for individual analysis. The detection limits (3σ blank/slope) obtained were 0.07 µg L⁻¹ for Pb²⁺, Zn²⁺ and Cu²⁺ and 0.08 µg L⁻¹ for Cd²⁺ at a deposition time of 120 s. For practical applications recovery studies was done by spiking test samples with known concentrations and comparing the results with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) analyses. This was followed by real sample analysis. Full article

Activity recognition systems using simple and ubiquitous sensors require a large variety of real-world sensor data for not only evaluating their performance but also training the systems for better functioning. However, a tremendous amount of effort is required to setup an environment for collecting such data. For example, expertise and resources are needed to design and install the sensors, controllers, network components, and middleware just to perform basic data collections. It is therefore desirable to have a data collection method that is inexpensive, flexible, user-friendly, and capable of providing large and diverse activity datasets. In this paper, we propose an intelligent activity data collection tool which has the ability to provide such datasets inexpensively without physically deploying the testbeds. It can be used as an inexpensive and alternative technique to collect human activity data. The tool provides a set of web interfaces to create a web-based activity data collection environment. It also provides a web-based experience sampling tool to take the user’s activity input. The tool generates an activity log using its activity knowledge and the user-given inputs. The activity knowledge is mined from the web. We have performed two experiments to validate the tool’s performance in producing reliable datasets. Full article

Structural faults, such as unbalance, misalignment and looseness, etc., often occur in the shafts of rotating machinery. These faults may cause serious machine accidents and lead to great production losses. This paper proposes an intelligent method for diagnosing structural faults of rotating machinery using ant colony optimization (ACO) and relative ratio symptom parameters (RRSPs) in order to detect faults and distinguish fault types at an early stage. New symptom parameters called “relative ratio symptom parameters” are defined for reflecting the features of vibration signals measured in each state. Synthetic detection index (SDI) using statistical theory has also been defined to evaluate the applicability of the RRSPs. The SDI can be used to indicate the fitness of a RRSP for ACO. Lastly, this paper also compares the proposed method with the conventional neural networks (NN) method. Practical examples of fault diagnosis for a centrifugal fan are provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. The verification results show that the structural faults often occurring in the centrifugal fan, such as unbalance, misalignment and looseness states are effectively identified by the proposed method, while these faults are difficult to detect using conventional neural networks. Full article

The main objective of the presented study was the development of a simple analytical tool for exploring the influence of naturally occurring compounds on the aggregation of amyloid-β peptide (Aβ₄₀) in order to find potential anti-neurodegenerative drugs. The gold discs used for surface plasmon resonance (SPR) measurements were modified with thioaliphatic acid. The surface functionalized with carboxylic groups was used for covalent attaching of Aβ₄₀ probe by creation of amide bonds in the presence of EDC/NHS. The modified SPR gold discs were used for exploring the Aβ₄₀ aggregation process in the presence of selected alkaloids: arecoline hydrobromide, pseudopelletierine hydrochloride, trigonelline hydrochloride and α-lobeline hydrochloride. The obtained results were discussed with other parameters which govern the phenomenon studied such as lipophilicity/ hydrophilicy and Aβ₄₀-alkaloid association constants. Full article

Environmental policies at the European and global level support the diversion of wastes from landfills for their treatment in different facilities. Organic waste is mainly treated or valorized through composting, anaerobic digestion or a combination of both treatments. Thus, there are an increasing number of waste treatment plants using this type of biological treatment. During waste handling and biological decomposition steps a number of gaseous compounds are generated or removed from the organic matrix and emitted. Different families of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) can be found in these emissions. Many of these compounds are also sources of odor nuisance. In fact, odors are the main source of complaints and social impacts of any waste treatment plant. This work presents a summary of the main types of VOC emitted in organic waste treatment facilities and the methods used to detect and quantify these compounds, together with the treatment methods applied to gaseous emissions commonly used in composting and anaerobic digestion facilities. Full article

A meso-structured Al-MCM-41 material was impregnated with bromocresol green (BG) dye and then incorporated into a UV-Vis DRA spectroscopic instrument for the online detection of ammonia gas. The absorption response of the Al-MCM-41/BG ammonia sensing material was very sensitive at the optical absorption wavelength of 630 nm. A high linear correlation was achieved for ppmv and sub-ppmv levels of ammonia gas. The response time for the quantitative detection of ammonia gas concentrations ranging from 0.25 to 2.0 ppmv was only a few minutes. The lower detection limit achieved was 0.185 ppmv. The color change process was fully reversible during tens of cycling tests. These features together make this mesoporous Al-MCM-41 material very promising for optical sensing applications. Full article

This paper presents the development of a PC-based microwave five-port reflectometer for the determination of moisture content in oil palm fruits. The reflectometer was designed to measure both the magnitude and phase of the reflection coefficient of any passive microwave device. The stand-alone reflectometer consists of a PC, a microwave source, diode detectors and an analog to digital converter. All the measurement and data acquisition were done using Agilent VEE graphical programming software. The relectometer can be used with any reflection based microwave sensor. In this work, the application of the reflectometer as a useful instrument to determine the moisture content in oil palm fruits using monopole and coaxial sensors was demonstrated. Calibration equations between reflection coefficients and moisture content have been established for both sensors. The equation based on phase measurement of monopole sensor was found to be accurate within 5% in predicting moisture content in the fruits when compared to the conventional oven drying method. Full article

One of the most important parts of an autonomous robot is to establish the path by which it should navigate in order to successfully achieve its goals. In the case of agricultural robotics, a procedure that determines this desired path can be useful. In this paper, a new virtual sensor is introduced in order to classify the elements of an orange grove. This proposed sensor will be based on a color CCD camera with auto iris lens which is in charge of doing the captures of the real environment and an ensemble of neural networks which processes the capture and differentiates each element of the image. Then, the Hough’s transform and other operations will be applied in order to extract the desired path from the classification performed by the virtual sensory system. With this approach, the robotic system can correct its deviation with respect to the desired path. The results show that the sensory system properly classifies the elements of the grove and can set trajectory of the robot. Full article

In Delay Tolerant Mobile Sensor Networks (DTMSNs) that have the inherent features of intermitted connectivity and frequently changing network topology it is reasonable to utilize multi-replica schemes to improve the data gathering performance. However, most existing multi-replica approaches inject a large amount of message copies into the network to increase the probability of message delivery, which may drain each mobile node’s limited battery supply faster and result in too much contention for the restricted resources of the DTMSN, so a proper data gathering scheme needs a trade off between the number of replica messages and network performance. In this paper, we propose a new data gathering protocol called DRADG (for Distance-aware Replica Adaptive Data Gathering protocol), which economizes network resource consumption through making use of a self-adapting algorithm to cut down the number of redundant replicas of messages, and achieves a good network performance by leveraging the delivery probabilities of the mobile sensors as main routing metrics. Simulation results have shown that the proposed DRADG protocol achieves comparable or higher message delivery ratios at the cost of the much lower transmission overhead than several current DTMSN data gathering schemes. Full article

Limited energy is the most critical constraint that limits the capabilities of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Most sensors operate on batteries with limited power. Battery recharging or replacement may be impossible. Security mechanisms that are based on public key cryptographic algorithms such as RSA and digital signatures are prohibitively expensive in terms of energy consumption and storage requirements, and thus unsuitable for WSN applications. This paper proposes a new fragile watermarking technique to detect unauthorized alterations in WSN data streams. We propose the FWC-D scheme, which uses group delimiters to keep the sender and receivers synchronized and help them to avoid ambiguity in the event of data insertion or deletion. The watermark, which is computed using a hash function, is stored in the previous group in a linked-list fashion to ensure data freshness and mitigate replay attacks, FWC-D generates a serial number SN that is attached to each group to help the receiver determines how many group insertions or deletions occurred. Detailed security analysis that compares the proposed FWC-D scheme with SGW, one of the latest integrity schemes for WSNs, shows that FWC-D is more robust than SGW. Simulation results further show that the proposed scheme is much faster than SGW. Full article

Displacement of soil particles caused by erosion influences soil condition and fertility. To date, the cesium 137 isotope (¹³⁷Cs) technique is most commonly used for soil particle tracing. However when large areas are considered, the expensive soil sampling and analysis present an obstacle. Infrared spectral measurements would provide a solution, however the small concentrations of the isotope do not influence the spectral signal sufficiently. Potassium (K) has similar electrical, chemical and physical properties as Cs. Our hypothesis is that it can be used as possible replacement in soil particle tracing. Soils differing in texture were sampled for the study. Laboratory soil chemical analyses and spectral sensitivity analyses were carried out to identify the wavelength range related to K concentration. Different concentrations of K fertilizer were added to soils with varying texture properties in order to establish spectral characteristics of the absorption feature associated with the element. Changes in position of absorption feature center were observed at wavelengths between 2,450 and 2,470 nm, depending on the amount of fertilizer applied. Other absorption feature parameters (absorption band depth, width and area) were also found to change with K concentration with coefficient of determination between 0.85 and 0.99. Tracing soil particles using K fertilizer and infrared spectral response is considered suitable for soils with sandy and sandy silt texture. It is a new approach that can potentially grow to a technique for rapid monitoring of soil particle movement over large areas. Full article

Wireless location is the function used to determine the mobile station (MS) location in a wireless cellular communications system. When it is very hard for the surrounding base stations (BSs) to detect a MS or the measurements contain large errors in non-line-of-sight (NLOS) environments, then one need to integrate all available heterogeneous measurements to increase the location accuracy. In this paper we propose a novel algorithm that combines both time of arrival (TOA) and angle of arrival (AOA) measurements to estimate the MS in NLOS environments. The proposed algorithm utilizes the intersections of two circles and two lines, based on the most resilient back-propagation (Rprop) neural network learning technique, to give location estimation of the MS. The traditional Taylor series algorithm (TSA) and the hybrid lines of position algorithm (HLOP) have convergence problems, and even if the measurements are fairly accurate, the performance of these algorithms depends highly on the relative position of the MS and BSs. Different NLOS models were used to evaluate the proposed methods. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed algorithms can not only preserve the convergence solution, but obtain precise location estimations, even in severe NLOS conditions, particularly when the geometric relationship of the BSs relative to the MS is poor. Full article

People with special medical monitoring needs can, these days, be sent home and remotely monitored through the use of data logging medical sensors and a transmission base-station. While this can improve quality of life by allowing the patient to spend most of their time at home, most current technologies rely on hardwired landline technology or expensive mobile data transmissions to transmit data to a medical facility. The aim of this paper is to investigate and develop an approach to increase the freedom of a monitored patient and decrease costs by utilising mobile technologies and SMS messaging to transmit data from patient to medico. To this end, we evaluated the capabilities of SMS and propose a generic communications protocol which can work within the constraints of the SMS format, but provide the necessary redundancy and robustness to be used for the transmission of non-critical medical telemetry from data logging medical sensors. Full article

Satellite navigation systems such as the global positioning system (GPS) are currently the most common technique used for land vehicle positioning. However, in GPS-denied environments, there is an interruption in the positioning information. Low-cost micro-electro mechanical system (MEMS)-based inertial sensors can be integrated with GPS and enhance the performance in denied GPS environments. The traditional technique for this integration problem is Kalman filtering (KF). Due to the inherent errors of low-cost MEMS inertial sensors and their large stochastic drifts, KF, with its linearized models, has limited capabilities in providing accurate positioning. Particle filtering (PF) was recently suggested as a nonlinear filtering technique to accommodate for arbitrary inertial sensor characteristics, motion dynamics and noise distributions. An enhanced version of PF called the Mixture PF is utilized in this study to perform tightly coupled integration of a three dimensional (3D) reduced inertial sensors system (RISS) with GPS. In this work, the RISS consists of one single-axis gyroscope and a two-axis accelerometer used together with the vehicle’s odometer to obtain 3D navigation states. These sensors are then integrated with GPS in a tightly coupled scheme. In loosely-coupled integration, at least four satellites are needed to provide acceptable GPS position and velocity updates for the integration filter. The advantage of the tightly-coupled integration is that it can provide GPS measurement update(s) even when the number of visible satellites is three or lower, thereby improving the operation of the navigation system in environments with partial blockages by providing continuous aiding to the inertial sensors even during limited GPS satellite availability. To effectively exploit the capabilities of PF, advanced modeling for the stochastic drift of the vertically aligned gyroscope is used. In order to benefit from measurement updates for such drift, which are loosely-coupled updates, a hybrid loosely/tightly coupled solution is proposed. This solution is suitable for downtown environments because of the long natural outages or degradation of GPS. The performance of the proposed 3D Navigation solution using Mixture PF for 3D RISS/GPS integration is examined by road test trajectories in a land vehicle and compared to the KF counterpart. Full article

A methodology for the regulation of boom sprayers working in circular trajectories has been developed. In this type of trajectory, the areas of the plots of land treated by the outer nozzles of the boom are treated at reduced rates, and those treated by the inner nozzles are treated in excess. The goal of this study was to establish the methodology to determine the flow of the individual nozzles on the boom to guarantee that the dose of the product applied per surface unit is similar across the plot. This flow is a function of the position of the equipment (circular trajectory radius) and of the displacement velocity such that the treatment applied per surface unit is uniform. GPS technology was proposed as a basis to establish the position and displacement velocity of the tractor. The viability of this methodology was simulated considering two circular plots with radii of 160 m and 310 m, using three sets of equipment with boom widths of 14.5, 24.5 and 29.5 m. Data showed as increasing boom widths produce bigger errors in the surface dose applied (L/m²). Error also increases with decreasing plot surface. As an example, considering the three boom widths of 14.5, 24.5 and 29.5 m working on a circular plot with a radius of 160 m, the percentage of surface with errors in the applied surface dose greater than 5% was 30%, 58% and 65% respectively. Considering a circular plot with radius of 310 m the same errors were 8%, 22% and 31%. To obtain a uniform superficial dose two sprayer regulation alternatives have been simulated considering a 14.5 m boom: the regulation of the pressure of each nozzle and the regulation of the pressure of each boom section. The viability of implementing the proposed methodology on commercial boom sprayers using GPS antennas to establish the position and displacement velocity of the tractor was justified with a field trial in which a self-guiding commercial GPS system was used along with three precision GPS systems located in the sprayer boom. The use of an unique central GPS unit should allow the estimation of the work parameters of the boom nozzles (including those located at the boom ends) with great accuracy. Full article

This paper proposes a non-contact plant growth measurement system using infrared sensors based on the ubiquitous sensor network (USN) technology. The proposed system measures plant growth parameters such as the stem radius of plants using real-time non-contact methods, and generates diameter, cross-sectional area and thickening form of plant stems using this measured data. Non-contact sensors have been used not to cause any damage to plants during measurement of the growth parameters. Once the growth parameters are measured, they are transmitted to a remote server using the sensor network technology and analyzed in the application program server. The analyzed data are then provided for administrators and a group of interested users. The proposed plant growth measurement system has been designed and implemented using fixed-type and rotary-type infrared sensor based measurement methods and devices. Finally, the system performance is compared and verified with the measurement data that have been obtained by practical field experiments. Full article

Flexible manipulator robots have a wide industrial application. Robot performance requires sensing its position and orientation adequately, known as forward kinematics. Commercially available, motion controllers use high-resolution optical encoders to sense the position of each joint which cannot detect some mechanical deformations that decrease the accuracy of the robot position and orientation. To overcome those problems, several sensor fusion methods have been proposed but at expenses of high-computational load, which avoids the online measurement of the joint’s angular position and the online forward kinematics estimation. The contribution of this work is to propose a fused smart sensor network to estimate the forward kinematics of an industrial robot. The developed smart processor uses Kalman filters to filter and to fuse the information of the sensor network. Two primary sensors are used: an optical encoder, and a 3-axis accelerometer. In order to obtain the position and orientation of each joint online a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) is used in the hardware implementation taking advantage of the parallel computation capabilities and reconfigurability of this device. With the aim of evaluating the smart sensor network performance, three real-operation-oriented paths are executed and monitored in a 6-degree of freedom robot. Full article

This work presents a localization scheme for use in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) that is based on a proposed connectivity-based RF localization strategy called the distributed Fermat-point location estimation algorithm (DFPLE). DFPLE applies triangle area of location estimation formed by intersections of three neighboring beacon nodes. The Fermat point is determined as the shortest path from three vertices of the triangle. The area of estimated location then refined using Fermat point to achieve minimum error in estimating sensor nodes location. DFPLE solves problems of large errors and poor performance encountered by localization schemes that are based on a bounding box algorithm. Performance analysis of a 200-node development environment reveals that, when the number of sensor nodes is below 150, the mean error decreases rapidly as the node density increases, and when the number of sensor nodes exceeds 170, the mean error remains below 1% as the node density increases. Second, when the number of beacon nodes is less than 60, normal nodes lack sufficient beacon nodes to enable their locations to be estimated. However, the mean error changes slightly as the number of beacon nodes increases above 60. Simulation results revealed that the proposed algorithm for estimating sensor positions is more accurate than existing algorithms, and improves upon conventional bounding box strategies. Full article

This paper proposes an extension of the weak classifiers derived from the Haar-like features for their use in the Viola-Jones object detection system. These weak classifiers differ from the traditional single threshold ones, in that no specific threshold is needed and these classifiers give a more general solution to the non-trivial task of finding thresholds for the Haar-like features. The proposed quadratic discriminant analysis based extension prominently improves the ability of the weak classifiers to discriminate objects and non-objects. The proposed weak classifiers were evaluated by boosting a single stage classifier to detect rear of car. The experiments demonstrate that the object detector based on the proposed weak classifiers yields higher classification performance with less number of weak classifiers than the detector built with traditional single threshold weak classifiers. Full article

The control architecture is one of the most important part of agricultural robotics and other robotic systems. Furthermore its importance increases when the system involves a group of heterogeneous robots that should cooperate to achieve a global goal. A new control architecture is introduced in this paper for groups of robots in charge of doing maintenance tasks in agricultural environments. Some important features such as scalability, code reuse, hardware abstraction and data distribution have been considered in the design of the new architecture. Furthermore, coordination and cooperation among the different elements in the system is allowed in the proposed control system. By integrating a network oriented device server Player, Java Agent Development Framework (JADE) and High Level Architecture (HLA), the previous concepts have been considered in the new architecture presented in this paper. HLA can be considered the most important part because it not only allows the data distribution and implicit communication among the parts of the system but also allows to simultaneously operate with simulated and real entities, thus allowing the use of hybrid systems in the development of applications. Full article

The new characteristics of Wireless Multimedia Sensor Network (WMSN) and its design issues brought by handling different traffic classes of multimedia content (video streams, audio, and still images) as well as scalar data over the network, make the proposed routing protocols for typical WSNs not directly applicable for WMSNs. Handling real-time multimedia data requires both energy efficiency and QoS assurance in order to ensure efficient utility of different capabilities of sensor resources and correct delivery of collected information. In this paper, we propose a Secure Cluster-based Multipath Routing protocol for WMSNs, SCMR, to satisfy the requirements of delivering different data types and support high data rate multimedia traffic. SCMR exploits the hierarchical structure of powerful cluster heads and the optimized multiple paths to support timeliness and reliable high data rate multimedia communication with minimum energy dissipation. Also, we present a light-weight distributed security mechanism of key management in order to secure the communication between sensor nodes and protect the network against different types of attacks. Performance evaluation from simulation results demonstrates a significant performance improvement comparing with existing protocols (which do not even provide any kind of security feature) in terms of average end-to-end delay, network throughput, packet delivery ratio, and energy consumption. Full article

The paper presents the results of our investigation on the effect of the molecular structure of organic vapors on the characteristics of resistive chemical gas sensors. The sensors were based on tin dioxide and prepared by means of thick film technology. The electrical and catalytic examinations showed that the abstraction of two hydrogen atoms from the organic molecule and formation of a water in result of reaction with a chemisorbed oxygen ion, determine the rate of oxidation reactions, and thus the sensor performance. The rate of the process depends on the order of carbon atoms and Lewis acidity of the molecule. Therefore, any modification of the surface centers of a sensor material, modifies not only the sensor sensitivity, but also its selectivity. Full article

Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs) are multihop wireless networks of mobile nodes without any fixed or preexisting infrastructure. The topology of these networks can change randomly due to the unpredictable mobility of nodes and their propagation characteristics. In most networks, including MANETs, each node needs a unique identifier to communicate. This work presents a distributed protocol for dynamic node IP address assignment in MANETs. Nodes of a MANET synchronize from time to time to maintain a record of IP address assignments in the entire network and detect any IP address leaks. The proposed stateful autoconfiguration scheme uses the OLSR proactive routing protocol for synchronization and guarantees unique IP addresses under a variety of network conditions, including message losses and network partitioning. Simulation results show that the protocol incurs low latency and communication overhead for IP address assignment. Full article

We have utilized immunity-based diagnosis to detect abnormal behavior of components on a motherboard. The immunity-based diagnostic model monitors voltages of some components, CPU temperatures, and fan speeds. We simulated abnormal behaviors of some components on the motherboard, and we utilized the immunity-based diagnostic model to evaluate motherboard sensors in two experiments. These experiments showed that the immunity-based diagnostic model was an effective method for detecting abnormal behavior of components on the motherboard. Full article

Resistive oxygen sensors are an inexpensive alternative to the classical potentiometric zirconia oxygen sensor, especially for use in harsh environments and at temperatures of several hundred °C or even higher. This device-oriented paper gives a historical overview on the development of these sensor materials. It focuses especially on approaches to obtain a temperature independent behavior. It is shown that although in the past 40 years there have always been several research groups working concurrently with resistive oxygen sensors, novel ideas continue to emerge today with respect to improvements of the sensor response time, the temperature dependence, the long-term stability or the manufacture of the devices themselves using novel techniques for the sensitive films. Materials that are the focus of this review are metal oxides; especially titania, titanates, and ceria-based formulations. Full article

Muscle fatigue is an established area of research and various types of muscle fatigue have been investigated in order to fully understand the condition. This paper gives an overview of the various non-invasive techniques available for use in automated fatigue detection, such as mechanomyography, electromyography, near-infrared spectroscopy and ultrasound for both isometric and non-isometric contractions. Various signal analysis methods are compared by illustrating their applicability in real-time settings. This paper will be of interest to researchers who wish to select the most appropriate methodology for research on muscle fatigue detection or prediction, or for the development of devices that can be used in, e.g., sports scenarios to improve performance or prevent injury. To date, research on localised muscle fatigue focuses mainly on the clinical side. There is very little research carried out on the implementation of detecting/predicting fatigue using an autonomous system, although recent research on automating the process of localised muscle fatigue detection/prediction shows promising results. Full article

The TCP/IP protocol allows the different nodes in a network to communicate by associating a different IP address to each node. In wired or wireless networks with infrastructure, we have a server or node acting as such which correctly assigns IP addresses, but in mobile ad hoc networks there is no such centralized entity capable of carrying out this function. Therefore, a protocol is needed to perform the network configuration automatically and in a dynamic way, which will use all nodes in the network (or part thereof) as if they were servers that manage IP addresses. This article reviews the major proposed auto-configuration protocols for mobile ad hoc networks, with particular emphasis on one of the most recent: D2HCP. This work also includes a comparison of auto-configuration protocols for mobile ad hoc networks by specifying the most relevant metrics, such as a guarantee of uniqueness, overhead, latency, dependency on the routing protocol and uniformity. Full article

Aircraft operators are faced with increasing requirements to extend the service life of air platforms beyond their designed life cycles, resulting in heavy maintenance and inspection burdens as well as economic pressure. Structural health monitoring (SHM) based on advanced sensor technology is potentially a cost-effective approach to meet operational requirements, and to reduce maintenance costs. Fiber optic sensor technology is being developed to provide existing and future aircrafts with SHM capability due to its unique superior characteristics. This review paper covers the aerospace SHM requirements and an overview of the fiber optic sensor technologies. In particular, fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor technology is evaluated as the most promising tool for load monitoring and damage detection, the two critical SHM aspects of air platforms. At last, recommendations on the implementation and integration of FBG sensors into an SHM system are provided. Full article

Biology has often been used as a source of inspiration in computer science and engineering. Bioinspired principles have found their way into network node design and research due to the appealing analogies between biological systems and large networks of small sensors. This paper provides an overview of bioinspired principles and methods such as swarm intelligence, natural time synchronization, artificial immune system and intercellular information exchange applicable for sensor network design. Bioinspired principles and methods are discussed in the context of routing, clustering, time synchronization, optimal node deployment, localization and security and privacy. Full article

Brillouin scattering in optical fiber describes the interaction of an electro-magnetic field (photon) with a characteristic density variation of the fiber. When the electric field amplitude of an optical beam (so-called pump wave), and another wave is introduced at the downshifted Brillouin frequency (namely Stokes wave), the beating between the pump and Stokes waves creates a modified density change via the electrostriction effect, resulting in so-called the stimulated Brillouin scattering. The density variation is associated with a mechanical acoustic wave; and it may be affected by local temperature, strain, and vibration which induce changes in the fiber effective refractive index and sound velocity. Through the measurement of the static or dynamic changes in Brillouin frequency along the fiber one can realize a distributed fiber sensor for local temperature, strain and vibration over tens or hundreds of kilometers. This paper reviews the progress on improving sensing performance parameters like spatial resolution, sensing length limitation and simultaneous temperature and strain measurement. These kinds of sensors can be used in civil structural monitoring of pipelines, bridges, dams, and railroads for disaster prevention. Analogous to the static Bragg grating, one can write a moving Brillouin grating in fibers, with the lifetime of the acoustic wave. The length of the Brillouin grating can be controlled by the writing pulses at any position in fibers. Such gratings can be used to measure changes in birefringence, which is an important parameter in fiber communications. Applications for this kind of sensor can be found in aerospace, material processing and fine structures. Full article

Solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation is widely known as a genotoxic environmental agent that affects Earth ecosystems and the human population. As a primary consequence of the stratospheric ozone layer depletion observed over the last decades, the increasing UV incidence levels have heightened the concern regarding deleterious consequences affecting both the biosphere and humans, thereby leading to an increase in scientific efforts to understand the role of sunlight in the induction of DNA damage, mutagenesis, and cell death. In fact, the various UV-wavelengths evoke characteristic biological impacts that greatly depend on light absorption of biomolecules, especially DNA, in living organisms, thereby justifying the increasing importance of developing biological sensors for monitoring the harmful impact of solar UV radiation under various environmental conditions. In this review, several types of biosensors proposed for laboratory and field application, that measure the biological effects of the UV component of sunlight, are described. Basically, the applicability of sensors based on DNA, bacteria or even mammalian cells are presented and compared. Data are also presented showing that on using DNA-based sensors, the various types of damage produced differ when this molecule is exposed in either an aqueous buffer or a dry solution. Apart from the data thus generated, the development of novel biosensors could help in evaluating the biological effects of sunlight on the environment. They also emerge as alternative tools for using live animals in the search for protective sunscreen products. Full article