Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks for Lighting Energy ...

Chapter 4
Mote-FVF: Fuzzy Validation and Fusion for
Sensor Networks
The research discussed in this chapter and the following two chapters are
devoted to better harnessing the wireless sensor and actuator network technologies to
the energy-efficient lighting systems. Wireless sensor and actuator network
technologies present the potential for low-cost, easy-retrofitting, versatile and energyefficient
lighting systems; however, the expected superiorities can only be achieved
with the complement of pertinent sensing information and proper control actions.
Successful lighting control relies on good sensory information from the light
sensors. The miniature size, limited energy, and the desktop-deployed photosensor
make the sensor nodes prone to disturbances and unpredictable failures. Redundancy as
well as sensor validation and fusion are introduced to ensure the reliability and
pertinence of the sensory information. The sensor validation and fusion algorithm based
on fuzzy logic, named mote-FVF, is developed for extracting pertinent sensor data from
a cluster of redundant sensors while rejecting readings from disturbed or malfunctioning
sensors.
4.1 Rationale
Wireless sensor networks promise more useful information about the monitored
environment via massive deployment of miniature sensor nodes. The global information
that can be extracted from the distributed sensors in the data-centric operation of a
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