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This paper aims at demonstrating the energy self-sufficiency of a LoRaWAN-based sensor node for monitoring environmental parameters exploiting energy harvesting directly coming from the artificial light used in indoor horticulture. A portable polycrystalline silicon module is used to charge a Li-Po battery, employed as the power reserve of a wireless sensor node able to accurately monitor, with a 1-h period, both the physical quantities most relevant for the application, i.e., humidity, temperature and pressure, and the chemical quantities, i.e., O2 and CO2 concentrations. To this aim, the node also hosts a power-hungry NDIR sensor. Two programmable light sources were used to emulate the actual lighting conditions of greenhouses, and to prove the effectiveness of the designed autonomous system: a LED-based custom designed solar simulator and a commercial LED light especially thought for plant cultivation purposes in greenhouses. Different lighting conditions used in indoor horticulture to enhance different plant growth phases, obtained as combinations of blue, red, far-red and white spectra, were tested by field tests of the sensor node. The energy self-sufficiency of the system was demonstrated by monitoring the charging/discharging trend of the Li-Po battery. Best results are obtained when white artificial light is mixed with the far-red component, closest to the polycrystalline silicon spectral response peak.

The aim of this paper is to present the viability of an energy-harvesting system prototype, based on thermoelectric generators (TEGs), to be embedded in a Long-Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN)-based wireless sensor node, allowing continuous quasi-real-time data transmission even for low temperature gradients and for frequent transmissions. To this end, an RFM95x LoRa module is used in the system. The energy management of the entire node is achieved by exploiting a nano power boost charger buck converter integrated circuit, which allows power extraction from the energy-harvesting source and, at the same time, regulates the charging/discharging process of a Li-Po battery that supplies the wireless node. The first phase of the project was dedicated to understanding the electrical characteristics of the TEG. A series of tests were performed to study the open circuit voltage, the current and the power generated by the TEG at different temperature gradients. Following this first phase, tests were then set up to study the charging/discharging process of the battery by changing two crucial parameters: the temperature between the faces of the TEG and the frequency of the transmissions performed by the transceiver. Experimental results show a positive balance for the battery charging at different conditions, which suggests two important conclusions: first of all, with high temperature gradients, it is possible to set relatively high transmission frequencies for the LoRaWAN module without discharging the battery. The second important consideration concerns the operation of the system at extremely low temperature gradients, with a minimum of 5 °C reached during one of the measurements. This suggests the usability of thermoelectric energy-harvesting systems in a wide range of possible applications even in conditions of low temperature gradients.

This paper aims at demonstrating the feasibility of a LoRaWAN-based sensor node for temperature monitoring, autonomously powered by a polycrystalline silicon photovoltaic module with possible applications within the Internet of Things (loT) domain in the horticulture field. The commercial solar cell was characterized under two light sources: a conventional white 4000 K Light Emitting Diode (LED) and a red and far red (R:FR) lamp peaked at 655 nm and 730 nm. The sensor node is equipped with a RFM95x LoRa transceiver which proved to be a valid technology in those application scenarios where robustness and low power consumption are required. The energy harvesting features are performed by a nano-power boost charger buck converter which deals with the power extraction from the photovoltaic module, the LiPo battery charging/discharging management and the supply of the sensor node. Field tests demonstrate that under R:fr light source, the energy self-sufficiency of the system is achieved: a positive balance between the battery charge and discharge is measured, sufficient both for the node working operation and for the battery charging.

Nowadays, indoor positioning (IP) is a relevant aspect in several scenarios within the Internet of Things (IoT) framework, e.g., Industry 4.0, Smart City and Smart Factory, in order to track, amongst others, the position of vehicles, people or goods. This paper presents the realization and testing of a low power sensor node equipped with long range wide area network (LoRaWAN) connectivity and providing 2D Visible Light Positioning (VLP) features. Three modulated LED (light emitting diodes) sources, the same as the ones commonly employed in indoor environments, are used. The localization feature is attained from the received light intensities performing optical channel estimation and lateration directly on the target to be localized, equipped with a low-power microcontroller. Moreover, the node exploits a solar cell, both as optical receiver and energy harvester, provisioning energy from the artificial lights used for positioning, thus realizing an innovative solution for self-sufficient indoor localization. The tests performed in a ~1 m2 area reveal accurate positioning results with error lower than 5 cm and energy self-sufficiency even in case of radio transmissions every 10 min, which are compliant with quasi-real time monitoring tasks.

In this paper, we investigate humidity sensing through impedance measurements with TiO2 nanoparticles (about 6 nm in diameter). The transient behavior and the impedance spectra are measured and interpreted from the theoretical point of view. Large responses are shown especially in the relative humidity range from 30% to 80%, which are essentially explained by condensation in the nanopores. The effect of the addition of Au nanoparticles is investigated and as expected, the Au/TiO2 interfaces allow for dramatically reducing the sensing film response time and above all, its recovery time, moreover, it seems to favor condensation when the relative humidity overcomes 70%.

Long Range (LoRa) has rapidly become one of the most widespread transmission technologies for the development of distributed monitoring systems for a wide range of applications within the Internet of Things (IoT) framework. Indeed, thanks to its robustness and high performances in terms of low power consumption and long transmission range, it has been employed in a wide range of critical application scenarios. In this context, this paper analyses the usability of LoRa as solution for data transmission in icy environments. While the technical feasibility of radio transmission channel in ice has been widely demonstrated, this paper aims at demonstrating the effectiveness of a low cost transmitter developed using off-the-shelf components, when completely immersed in ice. Fields tests were performed by embedding a Low Power Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) compliant node inside a 10 cm block of dry ice, positioned then in an environmental chamber, at a −10°C temperature. Preliminary tests demonstrate the operation of the transmitter in these operating conditions, while the achieved link margin suggests the usability of this technology even in case of notably thicker layers of ice.

TiO2 nanoparticles coating has been proven to be an extremely performing sensing material for relative humidity (RH) measurements. The chemical activity of TiO2 toward water vapor adsorption and the very large surface to volume ratio typical of nanostructures are ideal characteristics for the development of RH fast and sensitive sensors. Different sensor technologies can be used in conjunction with this material to realize devices with satisfactory performance. In this paper, the authors aim to describe and discuss the main different possible choices and highlight the advantages and disadvantages, and linking them both to the underlying mechanism of water adsorption on the TiO2 sensing layer and to the modification of the electrical behavior due to the water adsorption. In particular, the authors start from results obtained by depositing TiO2 nanoparticles on a novel MEMS microbalance operating at low frequency, which allows to sense only the adsorbed water mass, and they exploit the sensor output to obtain a dynamic model of the water adsorption. They also link these results to those obtained with a Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) functionalized with the same material operating at 10 MHz as a part of an oscillator. Finally, they establish a link with the results obtained by an RH impedance sensor, which exploits the same active material and the same deposition technique. With this sensor technology, the conductive and electrical behavior of the sensing and adsorbed films play a role. The whole work tries to unravel the different phenomena that contribute to the response of RH sensors not only based on TiO2 nanoparticles but also, more generally, based on nanostructured metal oxide materials.

Direct measurements of aeolian sand transport on coastal dunes and beaches is of paramount importance to make correct decisions about coast management. As most of the existing studies are mainly based on a statistical approach, the solution presented in this paper proposes a sensing structure able to orient itself according to wind direction and directly calculate the amount of wind-transported sand by collecting it and by measuring its weight. Measurements are performed remotely without requiring human action because the structure is equipped with a ZigBee radio module, which periodically sends readings to a local gateway. Here data are processed by a microcontroller and then transferred to a remote data collection centre, through GSM technology. The ease of installation, the reduced power consumption and the low maintenance required, make the proposed solution able to work independently, limiting human intervention, for all the duration of the expected experimental campaign. In order to analyze the cause-effect relationship between the transported sand and the wind, the sensing structure is integrated with a multi-layer anemoscope-anemometer structure. The overall sensor network has been developed and tested in the laboratory, and its operation has been validated in field through a 48 h measurement campaign.

In Italy the high-risk issue is specifically managed by the Italian law D. Lgs 334/99, which takes into account the provisions of the CEE Directive 82/96, named Seveso II Directive. The D.Lgs 334/99 defines the productive processes, the properties and quantities of the dangerous substances and the operative procedures that identify the major-risk plants. In case of large stored quantities the manager must draft a safety report with risk and consequences analysis and the safety measures taken in order to obtain an acceptable safety level. The safety report is delivered to APAT (National Environmental Protection Agency) and ARPA (Regional Environmental Protection Agency), who are entrusted with the inspection and control of the high-risk plants.

In this paper, the architecture of a heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) to be deployed on coastal sand dunes is described, the aim of which is to provide real time measurements of physical parameters to better define the sediment transport in connection with Aeolian processes. The WSN integrates different typologies of sensors and is provided with both local and remote connection. In particular, three different typologies of sensors are integrated in the network: a multilayer anemometric station, a sensor developed ad-hoc to measure the sand dune level and a sand collector capable of measuring the weight of trapped sand and its quantity. Each sensor node is made up at least of a ZigBee radio module that is able to transmit the data collected by the sensor at a distance of about 100 meters. While the sand level sensor and the sand collector are provided only with this transmission module, the anemometric station also integrates a microprocessor board in charge of data processing. A Gateway node provided with a GSM connection for remote data transmission and a Zigbee radio module for Local Area communication has also been developed. This node is in charge of collecting all the data packets sent by the Sensor Nodes and transmit them to a remote server through GPRS connection. A Web server has been set up to collect these packets and store them in a database. The proposed WSN can provide both a static and a dynamic framework of sand transport processes acting on coastal dunes.