BSc Thesis

Nowadays, sensor systems play an increasingly important role in our everyday lives. Whether talking of smart home, smart city, or industry 4.0 solutions, data collection and data analysis are an integral part of any of these. The systems used typically consist of permanently installed sensor nodes that perform measurements at a specific location. This can often be advantageous, for example if the critical locations are known and the sensors are installed on them, but such systems are not particularly suitable for a general survey of an area. It is easier to get a comprehensive picture of the area to be surveyed by using moving devices instead of fixed nodes. In this case, far fewer measuring devices may be sufficient to survey a given area, as a measuring device can take measurements at several locations.

In my thesis I present the importance of positioning in sensor networks and the advantages and challenges of moving sensor nodes. The biggest challenge is determining the position, so I describe suitable positioning solutions, with special emphasis on ultra-wideband (UWB) radio technology. I then design a measurement system that is able to determine the position of a measuring device using a UWB radio. The system can also transmit the results of the measurements made by the measuring device via the same radio connection. I design and build the necessary circuit for the sensor node and the firmware for the measurement and communication. The measurement results are stored in a database on a central server and made available on the local network via an API. A web interface is used to manage the data and view the measurement results, where the measurement results can be viewed on a heat map.