#communication protocols

How i2C protocol works....

When exploring IoT Protocols MQTT vs HTTP, it is essential to understand their roles in ensuring efficient and reliable data exchange in the expanding Internet of Things (IoT) landscape. MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport) and HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) are two of the most popular protocols in this domain. This blog explores their differences, use cases, and which one might be best…

An in-depth technical overview of the IoT, covering its architecture, communication protocols, security, and applications. Read more...

The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the interconnectivity of a wide range of devices and objects, including sensors, appliances, vehicles, and other physical devices. These devices are embedded with sensors, software, and network connectivity that allows them to collect and exchange data with other devices and systems, enabling a range of new applications and services. This paper provides an…

The phrases LoRa (Long Range) and wireless sensor networks are combined to form the phrase LoRa-based wireless sensor network. Let’s first grasp what these two phrases genuinely signify before learning more about this.

WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORK

A wireless network that is self-configured and devoid of infrastructure that is used to track various physical and environmental parameters, such as temperature, sound, vibration, pressure, motion, pollution, etc.

The gateway receives the wireless sensor data via the network, where it is monitored and analysed. Additionally, this data is transferred to the cloud.

LONG RANGE

For Internet of Things (IoT) devices, Long Range (LoRa) is a wireless technology that can provide long-range, low-power, and secure data transfer. It was created by Cycleo, a French business. Sensors, gateways, machines, devices, and other items may all be wirelessly connected to the cloud using LoRa.

It is a low power, chirp-based spectrum modulation that may be applied to long-distance communication. For each region, LoRa uses a distinct operating band. It is-

Band 915 MHz for the USA

Band 868 MHz for Europe

Asia’s frequencies are 920 to 923 MHz and 865 to 867 MHz.

Some key features of LoRa-

Long Range

Low Power

Secure

Low Cost

High Capacity

WHY USE A WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORK BASED ON LORA?

In the IoT space, wireless sensor networks are widely used and highly well-liked. However, the two main issues facing WSN are energy usage and coverage area. The development of the LoRa-based Wireless Sensor Network, which is low energy and has a long coverage range, resulted from recent improvements made to improve the performance of WSN.

Due to these characteristics, the LoRa-based Wireless Sensor Network is the best choice for applications where the communications infrastructure must operate independently for an extended period of time and across a vast region.

Smart homes, smart agriculture, and other important IoT applications use LoRa-powered sensor networks today. Let’s take a detailed look at a few of these applications.

A FEW APPLICATIONS OF THE WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORK BASED ON LORA

SMART HOME USING LORAWAN

Using a LoRa-based wireless sensor network, users may receive real-time updates while various devices and sensors are being monitored. Monitoring smoke, humidity, temperature, and other environmental factors is the key priority.

This technology enables remote monitoring and sounds an alarm when a sensor’s value exceeds the threshold. In order to improve communication, sensors are linked to microcontrollers through the LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network) module.

LORA-BASED SMART AGRICULTURE

Various sorts of agricultural data are collected today using a wide variety of sensors. However, these sensors can only gather data; they cannot effectively use or analyse it. It is necessary to create an intelligent platform to address this issue.

This platform may be utilised to gather data in the field and send it to distant computers for analysis. The long-range data transmission capabilities, battery-powered operation, and ability to function for years in outdoor settings like fields make LoRa technology a wonderful fit for this.

LIVESTOCK MONITORING USING WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORK BASED ON LORA

Along with other agricultural uses, LoRa is crucial for cattle ranchers to track and instantly spot abnormal behaviours in livestock. Farmers equip the collars and tags of their livestock with LoRa-based sensors so they can follow their whereabouts in real-time and receive alerts if any of the animals stray outside of their allotted territory or are stolen.

These sensors can monitor the health of the cattle so that the farmers can act quickly to separate sick animals from the herd and stop the spread of disease. Anywhere in the world, data collected remotely may be forwarded to a veterinarian.

MONITORING OFFICE TEMPERATURES USING A LOW-POWER WIDE-AREA NETWORK

A significant number of powerful computers must be deployed in IT centres and data centres’ facilities. Due to the over-design of the cooling system, it has been discovered that 60 percent of the energy used in these workplaces is used to cool the computers.

For long-term temperature monitoring, the introduction of a low-cost, battery-powered LoRa-based wireless sensor network can be very helpful.The office may be made more energy-efficient by using real-time data collected combined with previous data to identify difficulties and anticipate potential thermal problems.

BUILDING A MANAGEMENT SYSTEM USING LORA

Only miles-long cable wires have prevented business management systems from developing and automating more quickly. Due to LoRa’s wireless technology, the installation of cables was made easier.

Additionally, unlike the power-hungry WiFi and cellular networks, LoRa uses less electricity. Building management systems that use LoRa can improve safety, cut cost dramatically, reduce environmental impact, and simplify management.

A SYSTEM FOR MONITORING ENERGY BASED ON LORAWAN

Around the world, several renewable energy facilities have recently launched. However, these renewable energy sources have unpredictable outputs and are challenging to use on a scheduled basis.

Utilizing the information that is regularly created at these plants to gather, analyse, and take action on makes managing these renewable energy resources simple. Here, LoRa-based sensor networks play a crucial role in wide-area networking and the provision of affordable wireless solutions.

LoRa-based energy monitoring may be used in large companies and in communities where managing energy use is necessary.

SMART CITY BASED ON LORA

Applications for a smart city include coordinating city services like lighting, parking, garbage management, etc. and streamlining resources and staff to save time and money. Many systems must have low energy consumption, be portable, and have a generally low long-term cost because these applications involve a large number of individuals utilising them often. The LoRa-based Sensor Network is utilised to satisfy all of these needs.

WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORK BASED ON LORA FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING

This technology is often used in industries to monitor the environment. Gas sensors, flow sensors, and temperature sensors are all deployed in businesses for monitoring and worker safety. Given the rise in pollution, air quality monitoring is one of the crucial factors.

These sensors maintain a continuous record and transmit the information to the microcontroller. If any value is abnormal, action is done right away by notifying the relevant authorities. All of these sensors may interact with the gateway using several LPWAN technologies, the most popular of which being LoRaWAN.

THE MILITARY OR DEFENCE’S OFFLINE MONITORING SYSTEM

The battlefield of the future will be covered with a variety of sensors, actuators, equipment, and information sources. One of the main drivers of scientific growth has always been conflict.

Therefore, the military always keeps up with the latest technological developments. The LoRa-based sensor network experienced the same thing. In the military, LoRa is used for a variety of things, including managing weapons and ammunition, tracking soldiers’ whereabouts and health, managing fleets, and identifying enemies.

In wide-area communication, the LoRa-based wireless sensor network is frequently employed. To use this technology in several other spheres of life, there is still a tonne of research being done.

New Post has been published on https://videogaming.newonline.help/the-us-government-grounded-dji-but-here-are-the-five-drones-it-just-approved/

The US government grounded DJI — but here are the five drones it just approved

DJI may be synonymous with “drone,” but after the US Armed Forces, the Pentagon, and the Department of the Interior started banning and grounding Chinese models over spying fears, it created a vacuum in the market for a drone the United States government could trust.

But the US Department of Defense may already be filling that hole. It just wrapped up a program designed to find more palatable drones — one that actually kicked off in November 2018, arguably long before the tensions with China boiled over.

Today, the DoD’s Defense Innovation Unit is announcing not one, not two, but five such drones that have been tested, approved, and are now formally available for government use — including two from formerly consumer-focused drone companies Skydio (based in California) and Parrot (based in France).

The five DIU-approved drones are:

Note that there’s nothing that necessarily kept these companies from selling drones to the US government before now. Skydio, for instance, tells The Verge that it’s already shipped some units of the X2-D to “early access customers” and has other deals in the works.

Grid View

“It’s one of the first time we…really feel comfortable saying that.”

But after working with these five companies for the past 18 months — helping them tweak their airframes, weed out potential Chinese components, perform cybersecurity penetration testing, and standardize on communication protocols and controls — and certifying each one, the DIU believes these specific drones are actually ready for government work. “It’s one of the first times we as the federal government have said that and really feel comfortable saying that,” says DIU project manager Matthew Borowski.

Another benefit of the program: they’ll be on the GSA schedule, which means government agencies should be able to buy them in bulk for a discount.

The US Army may wind up being one of those bulk customers. The current plan is that one of these five drones will be chosen to fulfill an order that could see every platoon in the Army fielding them sometime in the next six months, according to DIU project manager Chris Bonzagni.

The general idea is that every echelon of the US Army might have a different kind of drone it can use — including “soldier-borne sensors” like the pocket-sized FLIR Black Hornet for each squad, a “short range reconnaissance” drone for every platoon, and fixed-wing (think airplane, not quadcopter) Raven and Puma drones at the company and battalion levels. Today’s drones are all candidates for that short-range reconnaissance (SRR) contract, specifically.

(Speaking of FLIR, it racked up $60 million in Army contracts for the Black Hornet as of May, and it also provides the Hadron thermal camera module used in at least two of the new drones featured today.)

As you can see in the image above, the basic performance requirements for the SRR program weren’t too strenuous compared to existing consumer-grade drones — but that doesn’t mean the SRR candidates are consumer-grade.

Even the Parrot Anafi, whose consumer version retails for $700, now has a three-camera array with both thermal imaging and a claimed 32x digital zoom, is sealed so it can fly in the rain, and has special antennas so it can be controlled and communicate over DoD frequency bands. Each drone also had to weigh less than three pounds and “take less than 2 minutes to assemble and fit inside a soldier’s standard-issue rucksack.”

They’ll also have premium price tags: $14,000 for a complete Parrot Anafi system, or $16K with an additional military radio link, and between $10,000 and $20,000 for a complete Skydio X2-D.

That DoD radio tweak applies to all of these drones, as does standardization on the MAVLink protocol and open-source PX4 flight software, so military and other government agencies can also standardize on whatever kind of controller they’d prefer. (We’re glad to report the Parrot will have a new controller, unlike the one we disliked in our original Parrot Anafi and Skydio 2 reviews.)

We’ve previously written about how Skydio and Parrot’s potential pivots to military and industrial drones were intriguing — Parrot actually followed through — and the DIU is taking some of the credit for helping these companies push beyond the consumer market. The unit points out that each company received millions from the US government to help build military-grade drones, and each wound up with an enterprise variant too. Skydio does challenge that a bit, though, telling us that the DoD benefited from its expertise as well — and that the $4 million it recently received under the Defense Production Act was simply used to “fund incremental R&D projects on next-gen technologies,” not create the X2.

By the way, you might be interested to know that DJI was never in the running for this program at all. While Trump didn’t technically sign the National Defense Authorization Act that prohibited “foreign-made unmanned aircraft systems” until last December — where “foreign” explicitly means “China,” just to be clear — the DIU says the Chinese company never bothered to apply.