Labs and Classes: An IoT Design and Implementation
Mohammed Abdulhakim Al-Absia, Kamolov Ahmadhona, KiHwan Kima, AhmedAbdulhakim Al-Absib, MangalSainc, Hoon Jae Leec
aDepartment of Ubiquitous IT, Graduate School, Dongseo University, 47 Jurye-ro, Sasang-gu, Busan 47011,Republic of Korea
bDepartment of Smart Computing, Kyungdong University 46 4-gil, Bongpo, Gosung, Gangwon-do,
24764, Republic of Korea
c Division of Information and Communication Engineering, Dongseo University, 47 Jurye-ro, Sasang-gu, Busan 47011, Republic of Korea
Mohammed.a.absi@gmail.com, ahmadxonk@gmail.com, ghksdl90@naver.com, absiahmed@kduniv.ac.kr, mangalsain1@gmail.com, hjlee@dongseo.ac.kr
Abstract
Smart devices can automatically connect to the Internet and form an intelligent network called Internet of Things (IoT). In this paper, the focus is on the application of IoT in the Smart Educational Environment. We are introducing a system which we implemented to control some class and lab activities in the University with Arduino Ethernet web server and android smart phone. The system architecture deployed at the university gateways and users smart devices. A prototype implementation and performance evaluation results are also presented.
Keywords: Internet of things, smart univeristy, remote controlled, smart labs and classes automation, Android smartphone, Arduino
1. Introduction
We live in an era where billions of computers are interconnected. Computers with many different digital devices and other physical objects becomes seamlessly connected to each other and be able to communicate with little or no human intervention. These interconnected objects are called smart devices, and this concept is called Internet of Things (IoT). IoTs can be described as connecting everyday objects like smart-phones, Internet TVs, sensors and actuators to the Internet where the devices are intelligently linked together enabling new forms of communication between things and people, and between things themselves [1]. Building IoTs has advanced significantly in the last couple of years since it has added a new dimension to the world of information and communication technologies. According to [2], it is expected that the number of devices connected to the Internet will accumulate from 100.4 million in 2011 to 2.1 billion by the year 2021, growing at a rate of 36% per year. In the year 2011, 80% machine to machine (M2M) connections were made over mobile networks such as 2G and 3G and it is predicted that by 2021, this ratio will increase to 93% since the cost related with M2M over mobile networks are generally cheaper than fixed networks as illustrated in Fig. 1 [3].
IoTs technology has been applied to create a new concept and wide development space for smart homes to provide intelligence, comfort and to improve the quality of life. However, applying IoT in different environmental areas like education is very rare. The smart classroom concept has appeared in the literature as Internet based distance education system or as intelligent environment equipped with an assembly of many different types of hardware and software modules [4]. In the process of everyday teaching, lecturers are usually trying to find out if the students (or more general the auditorium) were satisfied with the lecture, which part of a lecture was interesting, which presentation techniques and approaches were more and effective than the others. Previous studies have shown that approximately after 10 minutes students’ attention begins to decrease. At the end of a lecture, students remember 70% of the information presented in the first ten and only 20% of the last ten minutes [5].
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Fig. 1 Internet of things – 50bn connected devices [3] |
Fig.2 Overview of University UbiquitousClasses and Labs Architecture
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In our work, we are taking IoT to another level, to educational environment by introducing a system which we are implementing to control some class and lab activities in Dongseo University with Arduino Ethernet web server and android smart phone.
2. Research Motivation
In our opinion, a system or framework that reduces the consummation of energy when it is not needed is required whether in case of traditional or economical light bulbs, air conditioner, computers and other devices.
The main research gap here can be summarized as following:
· Less research has been done in applying IoT in education.
· High cost of electricity and energy is one of the main concerns of universities top management.
· With University as a case study, managing and monitoring devices in the university such as lightings, air condition, security and computers are still done manually and can’t be controlled remotely.
· Inefficient resource management.
The nest section presents our proposed solution.
3. Our Proposed work
In this work, we address the potential of using IoT to build a smart ubiquitous labs and classes in University. To demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of this system, devices such as light switches, power plug, temperature sensor and current sensor are integrated with the proposed class and lab control system.
In our work we are taking IoT to another level, to educational environment inside the universities where higher education may soon see smart sensors embedded in the school control of class/lab Lighting, Temperature, Lab door locks, seminar projectors, fans, computers, and other systems, to provide more convenience, comfort, power saving and security. Real time, actionable data will help schools to know exactly when to service equipment and achievesavings from the most optimal utilization of facilities and energy. Smart doors and security cameras know when to open, shut, lock and monitor movement through a space. We are applying it in real scenario at University.
Ubiquitous Labs and Classes System is undeniably a resource which can make the university environment automated. Students, lecturers and stuff can control the premises electrical devices via these university automation devices and set up controlling actions through Mobile. So, with this solution, the users will not be worried about the devices energy consumption anymore and will save time, money (long run), self-maintenance, security, and makes life easier.
3.1 Work Description and Architecture
This section describes the proposed architecture and design of flexible and low cost university controlling and monitoring system. The architecture is divided into three layers: University Environment, University Gateway and Remote Environment (see Fig.2). Remote Environment represents authorized users who can access the system on their Smart phone app using the Internet via Wi-Fi and 3G/4G network. University Environment consists of Gateway and a hardware interface module. The primary function of the university Gateway for the proposed architecture is to provide data translation services between the Internets. The main component of the university Gateway is a micro Web - server based on Arduino Ethernet. The main task of the server is to manage, control and monitor system components, that enables hardware interface modules to successfully execute their assigned task using actuators and to report server with triggered events via sensors. Hardware interface modules are directly interfaced with sensors and actuators through wires. It has the capabilities to control energy management systems like lightings, power plugs, air conditioning systems and security systems such as door locks, and gate. For monitoring university environment the system supports sensors such as temperature and humidity. Fig. 3 and 4 represents the temperature measurement and light detection in client 1 and client 2 respectively.
4. System Implementation
Software of the proposed U-system is divided into two parts: server application software and microcontroller firmware. The server application software is a library implementation of a micro Web-server running on Arduino Uno using the Ethernet shield. This Ethernet shield has the capability to be used both, as a client or a server. To successfully communicate between remote user and the university gateway, configuration stage and sensor/actuator control stage layers have been implemented on the Arduino Uno. The <Ethernet.h> libraries are used to receive data on Arduino Uno and creates output messages in JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format.
There are two classes of Web services: Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) and Representational State Transfer (REST). RESTful is a much more lightweight mechanism than SOAP offering functionality similar to SOAP based Web services.
Therefore, in our work we used the RESTful based Web service utilizing standard operation such as GET and POST requests that return JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) responses to communicate between the remote user and the micro Web server. JSON is a lightweight data-interchange format. It is easy for human beings to read and write. It is also simpler for machines to parse and generate messages than using XML. For example, to turn ON the light, an HTTP POST request is sent to the resource of the server.
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Fig.3 U-Smart System Client-1 temperature.
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Fig.4U-Smart System Client-2 Light sensor.
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4.1. Other Details:
We developed and implemented the application in JAVA programming language using the Android Software Development Kit (SDK) as shown in Fig.5. We used The Blue Octopus variant features as a dedicated authentication server as well as the support of MQTT protocol. We used Raspberry Pi 2 Model as our gateway to communicate with the Mobius server. The complete architecture is shown in Fig. 6.
5. Prototype Results
We used Arduino Uno as an end device, MySQL as a backend database, Sensors (Temperature Sensor, Humidity Sensor, Motion Sensor, and Light Sensor), Actuators (LED, Fan, Relays, and Breadboard). The fig. 7 and 8 represent the server and client output respectively.
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Figure 5. U-Smart Class developed prototype. |
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Figure 7. U-Smart System Client to Client Temperature Output. |
Figure 8. U-Smart System Server Output. |
6. Conclusion
Successful integration of the Internet of Things into the education system is required and starts slowly in much nuanced ways. Some universities and schools may use it to save money or harness data. Ubiquitous Labs and Classes System is undeniably a resource which can make the university environment automated. Students, lecturers and stuff can control the premises electrical devices via these university automation devices and set up controlling actions throughMobile. So, with this solution, the users are not worried about the devices energy consumption anymore and save time, money (long run), self-maintenance, security, and makes life easier.
Acknowledgment
This work was supported by the Technological Innovation R&D Program (Assignment number: S2457495) funded by the Small and Medium Business Administration (SMBA, Korea).
References
[1] G. Kortuem, F. Kawsar, D. Fitton, and V. Sundramoorthy, "Smart objects as building blocks for the internet of things," Internet Computing, IEEE, vol. 14, pp. 44-51, 2010.
[2] S. Hilton. (2012, 14 January). Progression from M2M to the Internet of Things: an introductory blog. Available: http://blog.bosch-si.com/progression-
[3] N. Brisbourne. (2013, July) “Growth in the Interent of Things”. Retrieved on June 12, 2016, from http://www.theequitykicker.com/2013/07/31/growth-in-the-internet-of-things/
[4] W. Xie, Y. Shi, G. Xu and D. Xie, "Smart Classroom - an Intelligent Environment for Tele-education", the Second IEEE Pacific Rim Conference on Multimedia Bejing, LNCS 2195, pp. 662–668, 2001.
[5] R. M. Felder and R. Brend, “How to improve teaching quality”, Quality Management Journal, Vol. 6, Issue 2, 9-21, 1999.