Seminar: Application and validation of adaptable sensor systems for environmental monitoring

Matthew T. Nakamura
Graduate Student
Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

Abstract
Presented in this thesis is the design, testing and validation performed on the Wireless Automated Sensor Packages, WASP, which was developed as a joint collaboration between the University of Hawai’i Nanosystems Lab and the Applied Research Laboratory at the University of Hawai’i. The WASP system utilizes a common hardware platform for multiple functional areas (e.g. base stations and sensing nodes) in the sensor network, simplifying manufacturing and logistics. The hardware platform was designed for low-cost manufacturing, adaptability, and versatility. It uses commercial off-the-shelf electronics in 3D-printed enclosures that were designed to optimize component integration and packaging. Pairing this hardware platform with a web-based data storage system and display client provides real-time telemetry visualization which can be used to perform personal or asset monitoring such as tracking for search and rescue personnel or for monitoring at fuel storage facilities to alert operators of potential leaks and hazards. The sensor system provides advances over current techniques in the form of scalability, cost minimization, live data reporting, and localization for active monitoring. The system has been demonstrated at exercises in Hawaii and Thailand with multiple sensor nodes collecting environmental data and position while worn by people or attached to vehicles. To demonstrate adaptability of data collection and handling, integration of sensors for volatile organic compounds has also been performed, with operation both in open air and in an enclosed environment. The WASP system provides an adaptable test bed and development platform for further sensor system applications.

About the speaker
Matthew Nakamura is currently a M.S. candidate under the supervision of Dr. Joseph Brown in the Nanosystems lab in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Matthew Received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2020 from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and is completing his M.S. degree as one of the first participants in the Mechanical Engineering Bachelors-and-Masters combined degree pathway program. His work includes electronic and mechanical system design specifically for low-cost manufacturing of sensor systems and devices.