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Sensors in Low-Cost Applications
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Sensors in Low-Cost Applications

A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 29008

Special Issue Editors

Dr. José Luis Olazagoitia

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Industrial Engineering Department, Universidad Antonio de Nebrija, Pirineos 55, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Interests: industrial robotics; computational simulation; noise and vibration; energy harvesting; low cost electronics and applications; vehicle engineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Jordi Vinolas

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Industrial Engineering Department, Universidad Antonio de Nebrija, Pirineos 55, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Interests: machine dynamics; noise and vibration; railway dynamics and energy harvesting

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

There is a growing interest in developing low-cost sensors and electronics in different areas such as engineering applications, research institutions, and industries. In these developments, low-cost electronics for control and data acquisition are often used (Arduino, Raspberry Pi, among others), together with cheap sensors. The biggest problems with this approach is that it is essential to pay special attention to the robustness of the system, how to get the most out of it on a hardware and software level, the failures that these cheap sensors often give, and how to learn how to make them really functional for serious applications.

This Special Issue invites contributions dealing with the development or use of low-cost electronics and sensors in specific applications as reliable and robust substitutes for expensive proprietary solutions. In particular, papers submitted should clearly show innovative contributions and applications using low-cost electronics and sensors. Special emphasis should be placed on how the robustness, performance, and failure-free operation of the system have been ensured using low-cost electronics or/and sensors.

The contributions can address a wide range of applications such as, but not limited to, any of the following topics: transport systems, industrial environment, energy, IoT, biomedical, laboratory equipment, etc.

Dr. José Luis Olazagoitia
Dr. Jordi Vinolas
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sensors is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • low-cost application
  • low-cost electronics
  • low-cost sensor
  • reliable operation
  • low-cost acquisition
  • low-cost control

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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24 pages, 6068 KiB  
Article
Low-Cost Ultrasonic Range Improvements for an Assistive Device
by David Abreu, Jonay Toledo, Benito Codina and Arminda Suárez
Sensors 2021, 21(12), 4250; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21124250 - 21 Jun 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 8494
Abstract
To achieve optimal mobility, visually impaired people have to deal with obstacle detection and avoidance challenges. Aside from the broadly adopted white cane, electronic aids have been developed. However, available electronic devices are not extensively used due to their complexity and price. As [...] Read more.
To achieve optimal mobility, visually impaired people have to deal with obstacle detection and avoidance challenges. Aside from the broadly adopted white cane, electronic aids have been developed. However, available electronic devices are not extensively used due to their complexity and price. As an effort to improve the existing ones, this work presents the design of a low-cost aid for blind people. A standard low-cost HC-SRF04 ultrasonic range is modified by adding phase modulation in the ultrasonic pulses, allowing it to detect the origin of emission, thus discriminating if the echo pulses come from the same device and avoiding false echoes due to interference from other sources. This improves accuracy and security in areas where different ultrasonic sensors are working simultaneously. The final device, based on users and trainers feedback for the design, works with the user’s own mobile phone, easing utilization and lowering manufacturing costs. The device was tested with a set of twenty blind persons carrying out a travel experiment and satisfaction survey. The main results showed a change in total involuntary contacts with unknown obstacles and high user satisfaction. Hence, we conclude that the device can fill a gap in the mobility aids and reduce feelings of insecurity amongst the blind. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sensors in Low-Cost Applications)
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21 pages, 5744 KiB  
Article
Development and Characterization of a Low-Cost Sensors System for an Acoustic Test Bench
by Ciro Moreno-Ramírez, Carmen Iniesta, Alejandro González and José Luis Olazagoitia
Sensors 2020, 20(22), 6663; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20226663 - 20 Nov 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2995
Abstract
Existing acoustic test benches are usually costly devices based on proprietary designs, sensors, and acquisition devices. In this paper, a low-cost test bench for acoustic purposes is introduced. The design of the test bench takes into account not only the low-cost mechanical design, [...] Read more.
Existing acoustic test benches are usually costly devices based on proprietary designs, sensors, and acquisition devices. In this paper, a low-cost test bench for acoustic purposes is introduced. The design of the test bench takes into account not only the low-cost mechanical design, but also uses low-cost sensors and control boards. This test bench has been designed for a range of signals compatible with those used by thermoacoustic engines, but it can be useful for applications with similar requirements. Taking advantage of an auxiliary pressure reference, low-cost unidirectional differential pressure sensors can be used to significantly increase the accuracy of the sampling system. The acoustic and mechanical design and development are presented along with the sampling system and the sensors arrangement implemented. Both the sensor and sampling system are evaluated by comparison with a high-fidelity sound acquisition system. An unexpected effect on the time error values distribution of the low-cost acquisition system is found and described. Finally, the errors introduced by the system and the sensors in terms of time and pressure sampling are characterized. As a result, the low-cost system’s accuracy has been satisfactory assessed and validated for the conditions expected in thermoacoustic experiments in terms of frequency and dynamic pressure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sensors in Low-Cost Applications)
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Review

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33 pages, 37243 KiB  
Review
Review on Comparison of Different Energy Storage Technologies Used in Micro-Energy Harvesting, WSNs, Low-Cost Microelectronic Devices: Challenges and Recommendations
by Amna Riaz, Mahidur R. Sarker, Mohamad Hanif Md Saad and Ramizi Mohamed
Sensors 2021, 21(15), 5041; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21155041 - 26 Jul 2021
Cited by 120 | Viewed by 15842
Abstract
This paper reviews energy storage systems, in general, and for specific applications in low-cost micro-energy harvesting (MEH) systems, low-cost microelectronic devices, and wireless sensor networks (WSNs). With the development of electronic gadgets, low-cost microelectronic devices and WSNs, the need for an efficient, light [...] Read more.
This paper reviews energy storage systems, in general, and for specific applications in low-cost micro-energy harvesting (MEH) systems, low-cost microelectronic devices, and wireless sensor networks (WSNs). With the development of electronic gadgets, low-cost microelectronic devices and WSNs, the need for an efficient, light and reliable energy storage device is increased. The current energy storage systems (ESS) have the disadvantages of self-discharging, energy density, life cycles, and cost. The ambient energy resources are the best option as an energy source, but the main challenge in harvesting energy from ambient sources is the instability of the source of energy. Due to the explosion of lithium batteries in many cases, and the pros associated with them, the design of an efficient device, which is more reliable and efficient than conventional batteries, is important. This review paper focused on the issues of the reliability and performance of electrical ESS, and, especially, discussed the technical challenges and suggested solutions for ESS (batteries, supercapacitors, and for a hybrid combination of supercapacitors and batteries) in detail. Nowadays, the main market of batteries is WSNs, but in the last decade, the world’s attention has turned toward supercapacitors as a good alternative of batteries. The main advantages of supercapacitors are their light weight, volume, greater life cycle, turbo charging/discharging, high energy density and power density, low cost, easy maintenance, and no pollution. This study reviews supercapacitors as a better alternative of batteries in low-cost electronic devices, WSNs, and MEH systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sensors in Low-Cost Applications)
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