TABLE OF CONTENTS Elena Gaura
Robert Newman
This chapter draws on the first part of the book which looked at stand alone sensors and provides the link to the reminder of the chapters which are concerned with multi-sensor systems. It can be argued that, in some ways, the development of sensor networks and arrays has been prompted by the designers' ability (and success) in enhancing the functionality of stand alone sensors beyond insuring mere measurement accuracy. Newly designed sensor systems have entered (or are about to enter) the realm of intelligent products which could be used to build intelligent , large scale sensing applications.
To start off with, the chapter develops new terminology to describe sensors which have been functionally enhanced in some way through the integration/addition of supplementary processing circuitry. Several terms, current in the literature, including smart sensors and intelligent sensors are discussed and the cogent sensor is introduced. Added sensor functionality is discussed in the context of growing expectations from sensors and the blurred boundaries between them and measurement instruments. The chapter reconsiders some of the issues in Chapters 3 7 under the umbrella of smartness and attempts to set the role of intelligence within a sensor system at different levels. The scene is set for further chapters by opening a discussion on cogent type of sensors in the context of large scale systems of such sensors.
A particular route towards implementing smartness, intelligence and cogency is through AI technologies. The enabling value of this set of tools is argued...
