Research

27 pages, 1402 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Quantitative Metrics for Performance Monitoring of Software Code Analysis Accredited Testing Laboratories

by

Wladmir Araujo Chapetta

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Jailton Santos das Neves

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Raphael Carlos Santos Machado

Sensors 2021, 21(11), 3660; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21113660 - 24 May 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1895

Abstract

Modern sensors deployed in most Industry 4.0 applications are intelligent, meaning that they present sophisticated behavior, usually due to embedded software, and network connectivity capabilities. For that reason, the task of calibrating an intelligent sensor currently involves more than measuring physical quantities. As [...] Read more.

Modern sensors deployed in most Industry 4.0 applications are intelligent, meaning that they present sophisticated behavior, usually due to embedded software, and network connectivity capabilities. For that reason, the task of calibrating an intelligent sensor currently involves more than measuring physical quantities. As the behavior of modern sensors depends on embedded software, comprehensive assessments of such sensors necessarily demands the analysis of their embedded software. On the other hand, interlaboratory comparisons are comparative analyses of a body of labs involved in such assessments. While interlaboratory comparison is a well-established practice in fields related to physical, chemical and biological sciences, it is a recent challenge for software assessment. Establishing quantitative metrics to compare the performance of software analysis and testing accredited labs is no trivial task. Software is intangible and its requirements accommodate some ambiguity, inconsistency or information loss. Besides, software testing and analysis are highly human-dependent activities. In the present work, we investigate whether performing interlaboratory comparisons for software assessment by using quantitative performance measurement is feasible. The proposal was to evaluate the competence in software code analysis activities of each lab by using two quantitative metrics (code coverage and mutation score). Our results demonstrate the feasibility of establishing quantitative comparisons among software analysis and testing accredited laboratories. One of these rounds was registered as formal proficiency testing in the database—the first registered proficiency testing focused on code analysis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected papers from the 2020 IEEE International Worshop on Metrology for Industry 4.0 and IoT)

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23 pages, 1169 KiB

Open AccessArticle

When Measurements Meet Blockchain: On Behalf of an Inter-NMI Network

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Sensors 2021, 21(5), 1564; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21051564 - 24 Feb 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2132

Abstract

The growing demand for solutions related to measurement (e.g., digital sensors, smart meters, distributed measuring systems) imposes several concerns about information and process reliability. In this context, blockchain can play a crucial role as a platform to implement applications and activities in the [...] Read more.

The growing demand for solutions related to measurement (e.g., digital sensors, smart meters, distributed measuring systems) imposes several concerns about information and process reliability. In this context, blockchain can play a crucial role as a platform to implement applications and activities in the context of legal metrology. In most countries, the National Metrology Institutes (NMIs) are responsible for promoting these initiatives. Thus, in this paper, we present a functional architecture to integrate NMIs in a collaborative blockchain network. We discuss the main aspects and features that an inter-NMI blockchain network must deliver. Furthermore, we implement our proposal using the Hyperledger Fabric platform. We connect peers from Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) (German NMI) and the National Institute of Metrology, Quality, and Technology (Inmetro) (Brazilian NMI) in a useful application that consists of a blockchain-based public-key infrastructure to identify and authenticate smart meters. Our preliminary results demonstrate that the proposed architecture meets the main requirements imposed by applications involving measurements. Furthermore, it opens the opportunity to integrate NMIs from other countries into the project, constituting an important global initiative in the metrology field. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected papers from the 2020 IEEE International Worshop on Metrology for Industry 4.0 and IoT)

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17 pages, 5596 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Design and Field Validation of a Low Power Wireless Sensor Node for Structural Health Monitoring

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Federico Zanelli

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Francesco Castelli-Dezza

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Sensors 2021, 21(4), 1050; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21041050 - 04 Feb 2021

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 2235

Abstract

Smart monitoring systems are currently gaining more attention and are being employed in several technological areas. These devices are particularly appreciated in the structural field, where the collected data are used with purposes of real time alarm generation and remaining fatigue life estimation. [...] Read more.

Smart monitoring systems are currently gaining more attention and are being employed in several technological areas. These devices are particularly appreciated in the structural field, where the collected data are used with purposes of real time alarm generation and remaining fatigue life estimation. Furthermore, monitoring systems allow one to take advantage of predictive maintenance logics that are nowadays essential tools for mechanical and civil structures. In this context, a smart wireless node has been designed and developed. The sensor node main tasks are to carry out accelerometric measurements, to process data on-board, and to send wirelessly synthetic information. A deep analysis of the design stage is carried out, both in terms of hardware and software development. A key role is played by energy harvesting integrated in the device, which represents a peculiar feature and it is thanks to this solution and to the adoption of low power components that the node is essentially autonomous from an energy point of view. Some prototypes have been assembled and tested in a laboratory in order to check the design features. Finally, a field test on a real structure under extreme weather conditions has been performed in order to assess the accuracy and reliability of the sensors. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected papers from the 2020 IEEE International Worshop on Metrology for Industry 4.0 and IoT)

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19 pages, 4110 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Robot Localisation Using UHF-RFID Tags: A Kalman Smoother Approach ^†

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Sensors 2021, 21(3), 717; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21030717 - 21 Jan 2021

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2571

Abstract

Autonomous vehicles enable the development of smart warehouses and smart factories with an increased visibility, flexibility and efficiency. Thus, effective and affordable localisation methods for indoor vehicles are attracting interest to implement real-time applications. This paper presents an Extended Kalman Smoother design to [...] Read more.

Autonomous vehicles enable the development of smart warehouses and smart factories with an increased visibility, flexibility and efficiency. Thus, effective and affordable localisation methods for indoor vehicles are attracting interest to implement real-time applications. This paper presents an Extended Kalman Smoother design to both localise a mobile agent and reconstruct its entire trajectory through a sensor-fusion employing the UHF-RFID passive technology. Extensive simulations are carried out by considering the smoother optimal-window length and the effect of missing measurements from reference tags. Monte Carlo simulations are conducted for different vehicle trajectories and for different linear and angular velocities to evaluate the method accuracy. Then, an experimental analysis with a unicycle wheeled robot is performed in real indoor scenario, showing a position and orientation root mean square errors of 15 cm, and 0.2 rad, respectively. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected papers from the 2020 IEEE International Worshop on Metrology for Industry 4.0 and IoT)

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16 pages, 10010 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Easily Integrable Industrial System for Gamma Spectroscopic Analysis and Traceability of Stones and Building Materials

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Kassandra Giulia Cristina Raptis

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Andrea Serafini

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Virginia Strati

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Fabio Mantovani

Sensors 2021, 21(2), 352; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21020352 - 07 Jan 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1871

Abstract

In the building material and stones market, lots of restrictions are coming in different world zones. In Europe, a recent regulatory set up the maximum level of radiological emissions for materials intended for use in public and private building structures. For this reason, [...] Read more.

In the building material and stones market, lots of restrictions are coming in different world zones. In Europe, a recent regulatory set up the maximum level of radiological emissions for materials intended for use in public and private building structures. For this reason, companies need to have a very efficient radiological measurements system in their production chain, in order to respect all the rules and to be competitive in the world market. This article describes CORSAIR, a Cloud-Oriented Measurement System for Radiological Investigation and Traceability of Stones. Our cyber-physical system consists of sensing nodes network connected to a data collection gateway through LoRaWAN protocol, and interfaces with a centralized cloud application. CORSAIR introduces a fast, repeatable, real-time and non-destructive method to measure radiological emissions and other parameters of each single building material item, uniquely identified by an applied RFID tag. The validity of this system is confirmed by in-situ measurement campaign compared with high-precision laboratory analysis. The results demonstrate the accuracy of the CORSAIR sensor and the possibility to easily integrate it in the company production chain without any change. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected papers from the 2020 IEEE International Worshop on Metrology for Industry 4.0 and IoT)

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20 pages, 5402 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Working Principle and Performance of a Scalable Gravimetric System for the Monitoring of Access to Public Places

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Sensors 2020, 20(24), 7225; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20247225 - 17 Dec 2020

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1748

Abstract

Here, we propose a novel application of a low-cost robust gravimetric system for public place access monitoring purposes. The proposed solution is intended to be exploited in a multi-sensor scenario, where heterogeneous information, coming from different sources (e.g., metal detectors and surveillance cameras), [...] Read more.

Here, we propose a novel application of a low-cost robust gravimetric system for public place access monitoring purposes. The proposed solution is intended to be exploited in a multi-sensor scenario, where heterogeneous information, coming from different sources (e.g., metal detectors and surveillance cameras), are collected in a central data fusion unit to obtain a more detailed and accurate evaluation of notable events. Specifically, the word “notable” refers essentially to two event categories: the first category is represented by irregular events, corresponding typically to multiple people passing together through a security gate; the second category includes some event subsets, whose notification can be interesting for assistance provision (in the case of people with disabilities), or for statistical analysis. The employed gravimetric sensor, compared to other devices existing in the literature, exhibits a simple scalable robust structure, made up of an array of rigid steel plates, each laid on four load cells. We developed a tailored hardware and software to individually acquire the load cell signals, and to post-process the data to formulate a classification of the notable events. The results are encouraging, showing a remarkable detectability of irregularities (95.3% of all the test cases) and a satisfactory identification of the other event types. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected papers from the 2020 IEEE International Worshop on Metrology for Industry 4.0 and IoT)

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15 pages, 4003 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Wearable Device Based on a Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor for Low Back Movements Monitoring

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Sensors 2020, 20(14), 3825; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20143825 - 09 Jul 2020

Cited by 20 | Viewed by 3148

Abstract

Low back pain (LBP) is one of the musculoskeletal disorders that most affects workers. Among others, one of the working categories which mainly experiences such disease are video terminal workers. As it causes exploitation of the National Health Service and absenteeism in workplaces, [...] Read more.

Low back pain (LBP) is one of the musculoskeletal disorders that most affects workers. Among others, one of the working categories which mainly experiences such disease are video terminal workers. As it causes exploitation of the National Health Service and absenteeism in workplaces, LBP constitutes a relevant socio-economic burden. In such a scenario, a prompt detection of wrong seating postures can be useful to prevent the occurrence of this disorder. To date, many tools capable of monitoring the spinal range of motions (ROMs) are marketed, but most of them are unusable in working environments due to their bulkiness, discomfort and invasiveness. In the last decades, fiber optic sensors have made their mark allowing the creation of light and compact wearable systems. In this study, a novel wearable device embedding a Fiber Bragg Grating sensor for the detection of lumbar flexion-extensions (F/E) in seated subjects is proposed. At first, the manufacturing process of the sensing element was shown together with its mechanical characterization, that shows linear response to strain with a high correlation coefficient (R² > 0.99) and a sensitivity value (S_ε) of 0.20 nm∙mε⁻¹. Then, the capability of the wearable device in measuring F/E in the sagittal body plane was experimentally assessed on a small population of volunteers, using a Motion Capture system (MoCap) as gold standard showing good ability of the system to match the lumbar F/E trend in time. Additionally, the lumbar ROMs were evaluated in terms of intervertebral lumbar distances (Δ

d_{L 3 - L 1}

) and angles, exhibiting moderate to good agreement with the MoCap outputs (the maximum Mean Absolute Error obtained is ~16% in detecting

{Δ d}_{L 3 - L 1}

). The proposed wearable device is the first attempt for the development of FBG-based wearable systems for workers’ safety monitoring. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected papers from the 2020 IEEE International Worshop on Metrology for Industry 4.0 and IoT)

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14 pages, 10004 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Multipoint Temperature Monitoring of Microwave Thermal Ablation in Bones through Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor Arrays

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Rosario Francesco Grasso

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Stefania Campopiano

Sensors 2020, 20(11), 3200; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20113200 - 04 Jun 2020

Cited by 23 | Viewed by 2925

Abstract

Bones are a frequent site of metastases that cause intolerable cancer-related pain in 90% of patients, making their quality of life poor. In this scenario, being able to treat bone oncology patients by means of minimally invasive techniques can be crucial to avoid [...] Read more.

Bones are a frequent site of metastases that cause intolerable cancer-related pain in 90% of patients, making their quality of life poor. In this scenario, being able to treat bone oncology patients by means of minimally invasive techniques can be crucial to avoid surgery-related risks and decrease hospitalization times. The use of microwave ablation (MWA) is gaining broad clinical acceptance to treat bone tumors. It is worth investigating temperature variations in bone tissue undergoing MWA because the clinical outcomes can be inferred from this parameter. Several feasibility studies have been performed, but an experimental analysis of the temperature trends reached into the bone during the MWA has not yet been assessed. In this work, a multi-point temperature study along the bone structure during such treatment is presented. The study has been carried out on ex vivo bovine femur and tibia, subjected to MWA. An overall of 40 measurement points covering a large sensing area was obtained for each configuration. Temperature monitoring was performed by using 40 fiber Bragg grating (FBGs) sensors (four arrays each housing 10 FBGs), inserted into the bones at specific distances to the microwave antenna. As result, the ability of this experimental multi-point monitoring approach in tracking temperature variations within bone tissue during MWA treatments was shown. This study lays the foundations for the design of a novel approach to study the effects of MWA on bone tumors. As consequence, the MWA treatment settings could be optimized in order to maximize the treatment effects of such a promising clinical application, but also customized for the specific tumor and patient. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected papers from the 2020 IEEE International Worshop on Metrology for Industry 4.0 and IoT)

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