Citation

Seo SH, Choi JI, Song J. Sensors (Basel) 2017; 17(10): s17102200.

Affiliation

The Division of Electrical Engineering, Hanyang University, ERICA Campus, Ansan 15588, Korea. bbtam99@naver.com.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/s17102200

PMID

28946659

Abstract

An intelligent emergency system for hazard monitoring and building evacuation is a very important application area in Internet of Things (IoT) technology. Through the use of smart sensors, such a system can provide more vital and reliable information to first-responders and also reduce the incidents of false alarms. Several smart monitoring and warning systems do already exist, though they exhibit key weaknesses such as a limited monitoring coverage and security, which have not yet been sufficiently addressed. In this paper, we propose a monitoring and emergency response method for buildings by utilizing beacons and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) on an IoT security platform. In order to demonstrate the practicability of our method, we also implement a proof of concept prototype, which we call the UAV-EMOR (UAV-assisted Emergency Monitoring and Response) system. Our UAV-EMOR system provides the following novel features: (1) secure communications between UAVs, smart sensors, the control server and a smartphone app for security managers; (2) enhanced coordination between smart sensors and indoor/outdoor UAVs to expand real-time monitoring coverage; and (3) beacon-aided rescue and building evacuation.

Language: en

Keywords

Internet of Things; monitoring and emergency response systems; security; sensors and beacons; unmanned aerial vehicles