Mobile Data Collection System Research Articles

A collaborative WSN‐IoT‐Animal for large‐scale data collection

AbstractIn recent years, large‐scale data collection systems have developed rapidly in many fields, including agriculture, transport and many others. The internet of things (IoT), whose main platform is wireless sensor networks (WSNs), is behind this development. Comprising thousands of sensors of different kinds, their main purpose is to collect and transmit data. Several data collection techniques have been proposed, including static, mobile and hybrid approaches. The challenges faced by these techniques are considerable, and include energy conservation, planning and trajectory optimisation during data collection, most importantly, the challenges related to the communication between the static sensors generally distributed in a more or less large geographical space and the mobile data collection system (UAV, vehicle, robot etc.). Not to mention the cost, which remains enormous for the agricultural sectors. A hybrid WSN‐IoT‐Animal that is self‐configured to improve data acquisition over large agricultural areas is presented. The main objective and originality of the heterogeneous semi‐modern scheme proposed here oscillating between traditional agriculture and precision agriculture is the use of animals as data collection tools. The main contribution here is the design of a simple and efficient model of data collection that is easily accessible by farmers by adapting the available resources. This model describes and adopts a sensor deployment method based on the notion of the hypergraph, which provides adequate coverage and ensures communication between the mobile sink and a subset of peripheral sensors chosen in alternation. Simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed protocol in terms of network lifetime compared to other works. In addition, the amount of data received by the mobile sink demonstrates the importance of this approach in terms of connectivity for large‐scale data collection.

Use of mobile data collection systems within large-scale epidemiological field trials: findings and lessons-learned from a vector control trial in Iquitos, Peru

Vector-borne diseases are among the most burdensome infectious diseases worldwide with high burden to health systems in developing regions in the tropics. For many of these diseases, vector control to reduce human biting rates or arthropod populations remains the primary strategy for prevention. New vector control interventions intended to be marketed through public health channels must be assessed by the World Health Organization for public health value using data generated from large-scale trials integrating epidemiological endpoints of human health impact. Such phase III trials typically follow large numbers of study subjects to meet necessary power requirements for detecting significant differences between treatment arms, thereby generating substantive and complex datasets. Data is often gathered directly in the field, in resource-poor settings, leading to challenges in efficient data reporting and/or quality assurance. With advancing technology, mobile data collection (MDC) systems have been implemented in many studies to overcome these challenges. Here we describe the development and implementation of a MDC system during a randomized-cluster, placebo-controlled clinical trial evaluating the protective efficacy of a spatial repellent intervention in reducing human infection with Aedes-borne viruses (ABV) in the urban setting of Iquitos, Peru, as well as the data management system that supported it. We discuss the benefits, remaining capacity gaps and the key lessons learned from using a MDC system in this context in detail.

Summer thermal comfort of pedestrians in diverse urban settings: A mobile study

Urban planning must consider the outdoor thermal comfort of city dwellers, particularly in cities where climate and the effects of climate change may severely influence human health and wellbeing in increasingly hot summers. The role of the urban forest in ameliorating this problem is decisive. The present study is based on a campaign of meteorological measurements in a large number of sites using a mobile data collection system to allow a human-centred approach. The aim is to quantify the different microclimates and thermal comfort conditions in six classes of urban morphology, discriminating landtypes with or without trees. In the case study of Florence, local physical characteristics of the sites; Sky View Factor (SVF), tree shade, ground surface cover, and canyon effect, can moderate human exposure to potentially uncomfortable thermal conditions during a typical Mediterranean summer. Significant differences in Universal Thermal Comfort Index (UTCI) were observed between treeless piazzas and streets and landtypes with trees or high height to width ratio (narrow alleys). Varying levels of SVF and tree cover in the sites allowed the construction of multivariate models, which revealed that, during common summer afternoon conditions, decreases of SVF by 12.5% or increases of tree cover by 25% can reduce the UTCI by 1°. Additionally, the total site factor, by incorporating temporally integrated sun exposure with the sky view factor, revealed itself a promising variable for future studies to use.

Automated defect inspection of concrete structures

This paper presents a framework for automated defect inspection of the concrete structures, made up of data collection, defect detection, scene reconstruction, defect assessment and data integration stages. A mobile data collection system, comprising a 360° camera and a digital Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), is developed to render high flexibility of data acquisition of image and three-dimensional spatial data, while users traverse complex indoor environments. Deep learning algorithms are implemented to efficiently detect defects from the collected images, and a simultaneous localization and mapping algorithm is adopted for site reconstruction with the acquired LiDAR data. Based on the images of detected defects, assessment is conducted to evaluate the defect conditions, complemented with the defect dimensions estimated from the aligned image and LiDAR data. The position of defects could also be identified and mapped to respective structural elements. All the inspection results are finally integrated into existing Building Information Modelling files for better facility management. The proposed workflow was validated using a case study for determining concrete cracks and spalls in a real-world facility, successfully demonstrating the joint application of advanced technologies in facilitating inspection programs of civil infrastructure.

Multi-Sensor-Fusion Approach for a Data-Science-Oriented Preventive Health Management System: Concept and Development of a Decentralized Data Collection Approach for Heterogeneous Data Sources.

Investigations in preventive and occupational medicine are often based on the acquisition of data in the customer's daily routine. This requires convenient measurement solutions including physiological, psychological, physical, and sometimes emotional parameters. In this paper, the introduction of a decentralized multi-sensor-fusion approach for a preventive health-management system is described. The aim is the provision of a flexible mobile data-collection platform, which can be used in many different health-care related applications. Different heterogeneous data sources can be integrated and measured data are prepared and transferred to a superordinated data-science-oriented cloud-solution. The presented novel approach focuses on the integration and fusion of different mobile data sources on a mobile data collection system (mDCS). This includes directly coupled wireless sensor devices, indirectly coupled devices offering the datasets via vendor-specific cloud solutions (as e.g., Fitbit, San Francisco, USA and Nokia, Espoo, Finland) and questionnaires to acquire subjective and objective parameters. The mDCS functions as a user-specific interface adapter and data concentrator decentralized from a data-science-oriented processing cloud. A low-level data fusion in the mDCS includes the synchronization of the data sources, the individual selection of required data sets and the execution of pre-processing procedures. Thus, the mDCS increases the availability of the processing cloud and in consequence also of the higher level data-fusion procedures. The developed system can be easily adapted to changing health-care applications by using different sensor combinations. The complex processing for data analysis can be supported and intervention measures can be provided.

Evaluation of social inequalites in health of road accident victims in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Each year, more than 1.2 million deaths in the world are due to road accidents. It is the leading cause of mortality in young people between the ages of 15 and 29 years. Road accidents and associated injuries have a major impact on health and development. Many international reports have evaluated the mortality and morbidity related to road accidents, but these studies are based on limited data, often with limited robustness. Based on a study conducted in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, to estimate the mortality and morbidity of road accident victims, the objective of this article was to evaluate social, spatial and health inequalities of populations killed or injured as a result of a road accident. Between February and July 2015, all road accidents were recorded by policemen using a mobile telephone data collection system, including geolocation of accidents. Three quantitative and prospective survey phases were then performed on injured patients admitted to Yalgado Ouedraogo hospital, the reference centre for these patients. A total of 1,867 emergency department admissions were reported. The majority (95%) of road accident victims were vulnerable users. More than 30% of accidents occurred in one central quarter and two peripheral quarters. The mean management time as 1 hour 3 minutes for victims rescued by firemen and 3 hours 10 minutes for those who attended the emergency department on their own. The mean total cost of management was 126,799 CFA francs (€193) [400-2,000,000 CFA francs]. These results identify possible actions designed to reduce road accident injuries and their consequences. They demonstrate that the creation of surveillance systems common to police forces, rescue and health care services are essential to produce convincing data.

ACCESS TO IMPROVED HYBRID SEEDS IN GHANA: IMPLICATIONS FOR ESTABLISHMENT AND REHABILITATION OF COCOA FARMS

SUMMARYPoor access to improved seeds in West and Central Africa has compromised crop yields and productivity as most farmers source the bulk of their seeds from informal channels. The use of farmer produced seeds has mostly resulted in high seedling mortality thereby presenting challenges to cocoa rehabilitation programmes across the sub region. With the aid of a mobile data collection system (MDCS), the first of its kind to enhance accuracy of survey results in an improved seed supply system through brokerage and linkages among diverse actors, this study assesses Ghanaian farmers’ access to improved hybrid cocoa seeds and provides evidence on the socio-cultural factors that affect field performance of such planting materials. Results show that farmers value a seed brokerage system (SBS), which is facilitated through group bulk purchase, timely acquisition and delivery of seeds. The study also revealed that farm size, land use type and gender have significant effect on survival rate of transplanted hybrid cocoa seedlings over two dry seasons. Regardless of the rehabilitation process, mean survival rate was high (79%) although an 11% (p < 0.000) difference occurred between gender with men recording a higher rate. The majority of farmers prefer cultivating cocoa on forest and fallow lands, implying continues degradation of forest areas. There is therefore an urgent need for a change of mind set, to advocate for land recycling to spare forest areas to thrive.

Evaluating a mobile data-collection system for production information in SMEs

Data collection is important for the efficient running of production systems in small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). Operations managers and workers need accurate and timely data to improve their productivity. Rapid growth in the use of mobile technologies has increased the demand for mobile-based data-collection solutions to bridge the information gap in SMEs. As part of this effort, we have developed a web-based authoring tool that enables non-programmers to build mobile applications that collect production information. This paper describes the proposed mobile data-collection system, and examines its feasibility in SMEs at which production data is manually collected and managed using paper forms. Case studies demonstrate that the proposed system can successfully overcome technical constraints, providing a simple means of creating mobile data-collection tools.

A mobile telephone-based SMS and internet survey system for self-assessment in Australian anaesthesia: experience of a single practitioner.

Self-assessment and audit in anaesthesia require a systematic approach to postoperative data collection. The increasing prevalence of mobile internet technology offers a new data collection method for anaesthetists. In this paper, a system for mobile internet data collection is described and the preliminary experience with its use is presented. The system was developed by the author and combined an open source survey application and a short message service (SMS) gateway to send SMS messages to patients after their anaesthesia and surgery. The messages requested patients to complete an online Quality of Recovery survey questionnaire if they had a smartphone. The results were immediately available. A preliminary survey of consenting patients with available mobile telephone numbers in a private practice was undertaken by the author. A total of 123 procedures were eligible for follow-up and survey requests were sent to 94 patients. Sixty-five surveys were completed. This represents 69% of surveys requested, demonstrating that mobile phone technology can be used to provide significant amounts of data for quality assurance. However, the implementation of a mobile internet data collection system requires consideration of privacy principles, security and ethical handling of data.

Conceptual Design of Mobile Data Collection System for Traceability in Agriculture

Issues for food traceability are receiving enthusiastic research interests recently. Traceability system is aimed to provide information visibility through the farming, production, packing, distribution, transportation, and sales process. The objective of this research is to develop a mobile data collection system to enhance the efficiency of e-traceability data construction. The mobile system consists of a front-end application service with cell phone and QR code labels. By scanning the QR code labels related to the farming operations, traceability data can be uploaded simultaneously to the back-end web server. The miscellaneous traceability data construction can be simply replaced by scanning QR code labels. Applications of this mobile system can significantly reduce the complexity of traceability in agriculture.

FrontlineSMS as an Early Warning Network for Human‐Wildlife Mitigation: Lessons Learned from Tests Conducted in Mozambique and Zimbabwe

AbstractHuman‐wildlife conflicts (HWCs) have drastically increased around conservation areas in Africa in recent decades, thus undermining the peaceful cohabitation of wildlife populations and rural human settlements. Mitigation packages include HWC reporting, which is often ineffective since the information conveyed is generally scattered and useless. The booming mobile phone sector and the popular use of text messages (SMS) have provided an opportunity to assess the impact of real‐time communication systems in HWC mitigation strategies. This paper presents the results of preliminary tests conducted in Mozambique and Zimbabwe with FrontlineSMS, a mobile data collection system. With sets of 52 wildlife playing cards, any wildlife events from patrol reports to HWCs were easily translated into explanatory variables listed on forms. Sending written information as text messages was hampered by IT problems linked with the use of commercial 3G USB modems. The overall system could be improved by using GPRD modems allowing a higher SMS flow and, at the informant level, by introducing ad‐hoc SMS models to facilitate data capture on mobile phones. Once adopted, HWC early warning systems could be deployed at low cost.

Integrating a Trimble Recon X 400 MHz Intel PXA255 Xscale CPU<sup>®</sup> Mobile Field Data Collection System Using Differentially Corrected Global Positioning System Technology and a Real-Time Bidirectional Actionable Platform within an ArcGIS Cyberenvironment for Implementing Mosquito Control

In this research, we determined the feasibility of using a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) as a mobile field data collection system by monitoring mapping and regressing digitized sub-meter resolution polygons of multiple, malaria, mosquito, Anopheline arabiensis s.s., aquatic, larval, habitat covariates. The system employed QuickBird raster imagery displayed on a Trimble Recon X 400 MHz Intel PXA255 Xscale CPU®. The mobile mapping platform was employed to identify specific geographical locations of treated and untreated seasonal An. arabiensis s.s. aquatic larval habitats in Karima rice-village complex in the Mwea Rice Scheme, Kenya. As data pertaining to An. arabiensis s.s. larval habitats were entered, all treated and untreated rice paddies within a 2 km buffer of the agro-village, riceland-complex, epidemiological, study site were viewed and managed on the PDA.

Conceptual Design of Mobile Data Collection System for Traceability in Agriculture

Conceptual Design of Mobile Data Collection System for Traceability in Agriculture

Driver Response to an Actuated Advance Warning System

AbstractThis paper analyzes driver behavior when alerted to the impending end of green while they travel on high-speed signalized intersection approaches that are equipped with actuated advance warning (AAW) systems. These systems are widely deployed in Nebraska and provide a more than 90% likelihood of improving safety. They consist of one detector placed in advance of the intersection and active warning signs with the legend, “prepare to stop when flashing.” The overall goal is to reduce, if not eliminate, the number of drivers who are caught in the dilemma zone. A nonintrusive mobile data collection system was used to monitor traffic and collect a continuous stream of traffic data up to 304.8 m (1,000 ft) upstream of the stop line on two high-speed signalized intersection approaches that were equipped with AAW systems. The results indicate that the system is effective at alerting drivers to the impending end of the green light; approximately 78% of the drivers observed in this study either maintained t...

A mobile field-work data collection system for the wireless era of health surveillance.

In many countries or regions the capacity of health care resources is below the needs of the population and new approaches for health surveillance are needed. Innovative projects, utilizing wireless communication technology, contribute to reliable methods for field-work data collection and reporting to databases. The objective was to describe a new version of a wireless IT-support system for field-work data collection and administration. The system requirements were drawn from the design objective and translated to system functions. The system architecture was based on fieldwork experiences and administrative requirements. The Smartphone devices were HTC Touch Diamond2s, while the system was based on a platform with Microsoft .NET components, and a SQL Server 2005 with Microsoft Windows Server 2003 operating system. The user interfaces were based on .NET programming, and Microsoft Windows Mobile operating system. A synchronization module enabled download of field data to the database, via a General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) to a Local Area Network (LAN) interface. The field-workers considered the here-described applications user-friendly and almost self-instructing. The office administrators considered that the back-office interface facilitated retrieval of health reports and invoice distribution. The current IT-support system facilitates short lead times from fieldwork data registration to analysis, and is suitable for various applications. The advantages of wireless technology, and paper-free data administration need to be increasingly emphasized in development programs, in order to facilitate reliable and transparent use of limited resources.

3-D Kinematics Using Moving Cameras. Part 1: Development and Validation of the Mobile Data Acquisition System

Many human activities, particularly sporting skills, occur over large distances. But technical limitations have forced biomechanists to conduct studies only on portions of such skills. In this paper we present the design and validation of a mobile data collection system composed of a camera cart that allows the tracking of athletes along a larger portion of their movements. A key feature of this system is that it requires only a small field of view to record and analyze joint motions. The validation of this method was conducted with three approaches. For all approaches, intermarker distances obtained from real measures were compared to those obtained from digitized video data. In all three experiments, the results proved to be within the accepted error range of 5%. The net differences between measured values and digitized values ranged from 0.8 to 3 mm, while the relative errors ranged from 0.2 to 6%. This first experimentation using a mobile camera array to collect and reconstruct biomechanical data has proven to be valid and worth pursuing for recording and analyzing ice hockey skating.

Surveyor: Mobile Highway Inventory and Measurement System

Surveyor is a mobile highway data collection system designed to collect measurement data about objects, features, structures, and landmarks located along highways and roadways for highway planning, management, and maintenance. It creates classified inventories annotated with object dimensions, object position relative to the road, and global position reference. The mobile data collection part of the system consists of a high-speed multifunction vehicle with minimum complement of a right-of-way video system with a precisely calibrated high-resolution video camera, a distance-measuring instrument for spatial positioning, a gyroscopic geometries system, and an ultrasonic grade system for precise measurement of vehicle attitude. Data acquisition is facilitated by multiple on-board computers, and the right-of-way video uses a time code for synchronization to the geometric and position databases. The interactive (postprocessing) part of the system uses a workstation to retrieve and buffer the video for the user to identify targets by using point and click with a mouse, to classify them, and to request position or size measurements. The software can make measurements on multiple images by using triangulation or on single images by using the idealized plane of the highway as a reference.