Optimized Energy-Aware Wireless System for Identification of the Relative Positioning of Articulated Systems in the Free Space

In this paper, a low-cost solution to identify the relative positioning of articulated systems in the free space is presented. To prove the effectiveness of the proposed solution, the system has been applied to a real case study of a tractor connected with a baler. Differently from other solutions, the implemented system can monitor the working conditions of the whole machinery while warning the driver when the machinery gets into a dangerous situation. The system is comprised of two wireless devices called Wireless Master Device (WMD) and Wireless End Device (WED) installed on the tractor and on the baler, respectively. To identify instantaneously the dangerous working conditions, each of the two wireless devices exploits a MEMS inertial sensor measuring 3-D linear accelerations and 3-D magnetic fields components integrated in the devices. Very low power consumption has been obtained by exploiting a hardware-software codesign approach implementing an optimized algorithm combined with a smart task manager. Furthermore, a vibrational energy harvester has been designed and integrated on the WED in order to make the device autonomous from an energetic point of view.