Now showing 1 - 10 of 26
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Fuzzy decision making through energy-aware and utility agents within wireless sensor networks

2007-03, Shen, Song, O'Hare, G. M. P. (Greg M. P.), O'Grady, Michael J.

Multi-agent systems (MAS) through their intrinsically distributed nature offer a promising software modelling and implementation framework for wireless sensor network (WSN) applications. WSNs are characterised by limited resources from a computational and energy perspective; in addition, the integrity of the WSN coverage area may be compromised over the duration of the network's operational lifetime, as environmental effects amongst others take their toll. Thus a significant problem arises--how can an agent construct an accurate model of the prevailing situation in order that it can make effective decisions about future courses of action within these constraints? In this paper, one popular agent architecture, the BDI architecture, is examined from this perspective. In particular, the fundamental issue of belief generation within WSN constraints using classical reasoning augmented with a fuzzy component in a hybrid fashion is explored in terms of energy-awareness and utility.

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Transit and Transport : Monitoring and Validating the Transport of Waste

2013-01, Krause, Michael, Russell, Sean E., O'Grady, Michael J., O'Hare, G. M. P. (Greg M. P.), Ziolkowski, Bartosz, Diamond, Dermot

The illegal disposal of waste is a growing problem in many countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. A weakness with the conventional waste-management cycle concerns the validation and integrity of the transportation process, from collection at industrial premises to delivery at a licenced waste-disposal facility. The Waste Augmentation and Integrated Shipment Tracking (WAIST) an on going project, at CLARITY:Centre for Sensor Web Technologies, focuses on this very problem. WAIST integrates a triptych of sensing technologies in addressing this problem

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A mobile gateway for remote interaction with wireless sensor networks

2011-06-09, Angove, Philip, O'Grady, Michael J., Hayes, Jer, O'Flynn, Brendan, O'Hare, G. M. P. (Greg M. P.), Diamond, Dermot

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) almost invariably support a centralised network management model. Though the data gathering function is conducted remotely, such data is usually routed via data sinks to central servers for processing, storage, visualisation and interpretation. However, the issue of supporting remote access to WSNs and individual sensor nodes whilst in their physical environment has not been viewed as a priority. It is envisaged that this situation will change as WSNs proliferate in a range of domains, and the potential for supporting innovative revenue-generating services manifest themselves. As a step towards realising such access, a mobile gateway has been designed and implemented. This gateway supports Zigbee as this is the predominant protocol supported by WSNs. Furthermore, it also supports Bluetooth, thereby facilitating interaction with conventional mobile devices. The gateway is programmable according to the needs of arbitrary services and applications.

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Embedded agents: a paradigm for mobile services

2006-01, O'Hare, G. M. P. (Greg M. P.), O'Grady, Michael J., Muldoon, Conor, Bradley, John F.

Mobile computing radically challenges some of the traditional assumptions associated with the software development lifecycle, and end-user behaviour. Successfully meeting these challenges is of fundamental importance if mobile computing is to fulfil its considerable potential. One approach to this concerns the prudent and selective adoption of intelligent techniques. However, reconciling the conflicting demands of deploying sophisticated resource-intensive computational algorithms on devices that are inherently resource-poor raises significant difficulties. Recent developments in intelligent agent technologies offer one viable approach to resolving this conflict. This paper explores the state-of-the-art in mobile computing and intelligent agents. In particular, issues pertinent to the deployment of agents on mobile devices are considered in detail. To illuminate this discussion, the implementation of one such framework is described

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Practical Problem-Based Learning in Computing Education

2012-07, O'Grady, Michael J.

Computer Science (CS) is a relatively new disciple and how best to introduce it to new students remains an open question. Likewise, the identification of appropriate instructional strategies for the diverse topics that constitute the average curriculum remains open to debate. One approach considered by a number of practitioners in CS education involves Problem Based Learning (PBL), a radical departure from the conventional lecturing format. PBL has been adopted in other domains with success, but whether these positive experiences will be replicated in CS remains to be seen. In this paper, a systematic review of PBL initiatives in undergraduate and postgraduate CS is presented from a Computing Education Research (CER) perspective. This includes analyses of a range of practical didactic issues, including the degree to which PBL has been systematically evaluated, practical problem description in the literature, as well as a survey of topics for which a PBL approach has been adopted.

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The application of cluster analysis in geophysical data interpretation

2010-03, Song, Yu-Chen, Meng, Hai-Dong, O'Grady, Michael J., O'Hare, G. M. P. (Greg M. P.)

A clustering algorithm which is based on density and adaptive density-reachable is developed and presented for arbitrary data point distributions in some real world applications, especially in geophysical data interpretation. Through comparisons of the new algorithm and other algorithms, it is shown that the new algorithm can reduce the dependency of domain knowledge and the sensitivity of abnormal data points, that it can improve the effectiveness of clustering results in which data are distributed in different shapes and different density, and that it can get a better clustering efficiency. The application of the new clustering algorithm demonstrates that data mining techniques can be used in geophysical data interpretation and can get meaningful and useful results, and that the new clustering algorithm can be used in other real world applications.

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Towards evolutionary ambient assisted living systems

2010-03, O'Grady, Michael J., Muldoon, Conor, Dragone, Mauro, Tynan, Richard, O'Hare, G. M. P. (Greg M. P.)

Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) is advocated as technological solutions that will enable the elderly population maintain their independence for a longer time than would otherwise be the case. Though the facts motivating the need for AAL are indisputable, the inherently heterogeneous nature and requirements of the elderly population raise significant difficulties. One particular challenge is that of designing AAL systems that can evolve to meet the requirements of individuals as their needs and circumstances change. This demands the availability of an adaptive, open, scalable software platform that incorporates a select combination of autonomic and intelligent techniques. Given that the first generation of AAL systems will be deployed in the near future, it is incumbent on designers to factor this need for evolution and adaptivity in their designs and implementations. Thus this paper explores AAL from a number of prospective and considers an agent-based middleware approach to realising an architecture for evolutionary AAL.

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Pervasive computing technologies for healthcare

2011-09, O'Grady, Michael J., O'Hare, G. M. P. (Greg M. P.), O'Donoghue, John

The conference series on Pervasive Computing Technologies for Healthcare is one of the leading fora for research dissemination in this space. In May 2011, the most recent event took place in Ireland. A brief overview of the conference is now presented.

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Advances in pervasive health

2012-07, O'Grady, Michael J., Caulfield, Brian, O'Hare, G. M. P. (Greg M. P.)

Pervasive Health seeks to harness developments in pervasive computing technologies and harness them in the health domain. This domain may be interpreted in its widest possible sense, including the medical aspect both physical and mental, but also that of care management, education, community and occupational health. Such is the potential of pervasive computing technologies that the domain of pervasive health itself may ultimately fracture into a number of specialised domains, as the potential of the technology is being increasingly realised in practice. Indeed, this is already occurring with increased research activity being directed towards Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) in response to ongoing societal aging patterns

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How Smart Is Your City?

2012-03-30, O'Grady, Michael J., O'Hare, G. M. P. (Greg M. P.)

The idea of ambient intelligence implies an intrinsic link between individuals and their environment, enabling individuals to access and interact with computing artifacts in ways that are intuitive and do not disrupt everyday activities. Given the many different environments encountered as part of everyday life—within the home (1) as well as beyond it—enabling such interaction is a formidable technological challenge. The reward may be an environment that is safer, uses less energy, and responds to the needs of all individuals (see the figure). Recent advances in embedded systems, robotics, and sensor technology suggest that ambient intelligence may indeed be realized, particularly if crucial privacy and security concerns are addressed.