Citation

Handscombe J, Yu HQ. Sensors (Basel) 2019; 19(2): s19020347.

Affiliation

School of Computer Science, University of Bedfordshire, Luton LU1 3JU, UK. hongqing.yu@beds.ac.uk.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/s19020347

PMID

30654549

Abstract

There are many methods of collecting traffic flow data, especially using smart phone apps. However, few current solutions balance the need for collecting full route data whilst respecting privacy and remaining low-cost. This project looks into the creation of a wireless sensor network (WSN) that can balance these requirements in an attempt to negate some of the concerns that come with this type of technology. Our proposed system only collects location data within a defined city area. This data is collected with a randomized identifier, which limits repeated identification of the source vehicle and its occupants. Data collected is shared between vehicle and roadside base stations when the two are in range. To deal with the fluid nature of this scenario, a purposely designed Media Access Control (MAC) protocol was designed and implemented using the beacon-slotted ALOHA (Advocates of Linux Open-source Hawaii Association) mechanism.

Language: en

Keywords

Arduino; GPS (Global Positioning System); MAC; Raspberry Pi; WSN; beacon; slotted ALOHA