TABLE OF CONTENTS Robert Newman
Elena Gaura
In many application areas for sensor systems there has been a move from systems relying on a few sensors to ones which make use of many sensors. It requires some understanding of the particular application domain to see why this is the case. One of the main considerations is that the over-provision of sensors can in some instances relax many of the constraints involved in the design of the sensing system, or allow sensor systems to be designed before the phenomenon under observation has been fully characterised. Consider an application in which the requirement is to measure the noise field emanating from a factory or airport. If the number of sensors is restricted it is necessary to know exactly the best location for each measurement to be taken so that a sensor can be located exactly on that spot. Planning the data gathering exercise requires a large amount of forward planning, and some kind of modelling, just to find out where the key locations for sensor placement are. Even then, it is quite possible that an unexpected sound peak, caused, for example, by constructive interference of sound reflections from buildings, will be completely missed. By contrast, if it is possible to use very many sensors the area of interest can be liberally covered with them, with the result that there is likely to be a sensor close to each optimum location and even unexpected phenomena will be measured.
The usefulness to...
