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A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2022) | Viewed by 35206

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Prof. Dr. Vittorio M. N. Passaro

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Dipartimento di Ingegneria Elettrica e dell'Informazione (Department of Electrical and Information Engineering), Politecnico di Bari, Via Edoardo Orabona n. 4, 70125 Bari, Italy
Interests: optoelectronic technologies; photonic devices and sensors; nanophotonic integrated sensors; non linear integrated optics; microelectronic and nanoelectronic technologies
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Prof. Dr. Mehmet Rasit Yuce

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Department of Electrical and Computer Systems, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia
Interests: wearable devices; IoT sensors; bioelectronics; IC circuits; wireless body area networks; MEMs design; biomedial circuits; RF electronics; energy harvesting; sensor/sensor interface circuits and low-power circuits for emerging technologies in wireless communications, such as UWB technology and the Internet of Things (IoT)
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Prof. Dr. Eduard Llobet

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MINOS-EMaS, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 43007 Tarragona, Spain
Interests: gas sensors employing nanosized metal oxides and carbon nanomaterials integrated in ceramics, MEMS or flexible polymeric transducers; nanomaterial synthesis using CVD or VPT and surface functionalization via grafting of functional groups or molecules or substitutional doping; development of gas sensing applications in environment, security
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Prof. Dr. Assefa M. Melesse

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Department of Earth and Environment, AHC-5-390, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street, Miami, FL, USA
Interests: remote sensing; watershed modeling; climate change impact; sediment dynamics; river basin management
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Prof. Dr. Alexander Star

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Department of Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh, 219 Parkman Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
Interests: nanosensors; carbon nanotubes and graphene; nanoparticles; nanotoxicology; drug delivery
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce this Special Issue, entitled “Sensors in 2022”, which is part of the MDPI journal New Year Special Issue Series. This Special Issue will be a collection of high-quality reviews and original articles from Advisory Board Members, Editorial Board Members, Guest Editors, Topical Advisory Panel Members, Reviewer Board Members, in addition to excellent editorials from EiCs and Section EiCs. Submissions on all aspects of sensors and sensing technologies are all welcome.

Prof. Dr. Vittorio Passaro
Prof. Dr. Mehmet Yuce
Prof. Dr. Eduard Llobet
Prof. Dr. Assefa M. Melesse
Dr. Alexander Star
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sensors is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

New Year Special Issue Series

This Special Issue is a part of Sensors’s New Year Special Issue Series. The series reflects on the achievements, scientific progress, and “hot topics” of the previous year in the journal. Submissions of articles whose lead authors are our Editorial Board Members are highly encouraged. However, we welcome articles from all authors.

Published Papers (10 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 5913 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Drifter-Based Self-Powered Piezoelectric Sensor for Ocean Wave Measurements

by Seyyed Masoud Kargar and Guangbo Hao

Sensors 2022, 22(13), 5050; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22135050 - 05 Jul 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2214

Abstract

Recently, piezoelectric materials have received remarkable attention in marine applications for energy harvesting from the ocean, which is a harsh environment with powerful and impactful waves and currents. However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, although there are various designs of piezoelectric energy harvesters for marine applications, piezoelectric materials have not been employed for sensory and measurement applications in marine environment. In the present research, a drifter-based piezoelectric sensor is proposed to measure ocean waves’ height and period. To analyze the motion principle and the working performance of the proposed drifter-based piezoelectric sensor, a dynamic model was developed. The developed dynamic model investigated the system’s response to an input of ocean waves and provides design insights into the geometrical and material parameters. Next, finite element analysis (FEA) simulations using the commercial software COMSOL-Multiphysics were carried out with the help of a coupled physics analysis of Solid Mechanics and Electrostatics Modules to achieve the output voltages. An experimental prototype was fabricated and tested to validate the results of the dynamic model and the FEA simulation. A slider-crank mechanism was used to mimic ocean waves throughout the experiment, and the results showed a close match between the proposed dynamic modeling, FEA simulations, and experimental testing. In the end, a short discussion is devoted to interpreting the output results, comparing the results of the simulations with those of the experimental testing, sensor’s resolution, and the self-powering functionality of the proposed drifter-based piezoelectric sensor. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sensors in 2022)

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18 pages, 5062 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analysis of Radon Measurements in Relation to Daily Seismic Activity Rates in the Vrancea Region, Romania

by Juan José Galiana-Merino, Sergio Molina, Alireza Kharazian, Victorin-Emilian Toader, Iren-Adelina Moldovan and Igor Gómez

Sensors 2022, 22(11), 4160; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22114160 - 30 May 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1839

Abstract

Many previous research studies have shown how local and even regional earthquakes can significantly affect the release of radon in the soil. The aim of this work is to investigate the relationship between radon measurements and the daily seismic activity rate and develop a methodology that allows estimating the seismic activity rate using only radon measurements. To carry out this study, the earthquake catalogue of the Vrancea region (Romania) has been used to estimate the daily seismic activity rate during a given time period, in which radon measurements were also recorded, from January 2016 to September 2020. The Vrancea zone represents the most active seismic zone in Europe and is located on the eastern edge of the strongly bent Carpathian arc. In the case of the radon measurements, seasonal behaviours and linear trends due to non-seismic factors have been identified and subsequently removed. The discrete wavelet transform has been used to analyse the radon signal at two different scales: long and short periods. From the analysis carried out on a long-period scale, an approximate linear relationship has been obtained between the radon series and the daily seismic activity rate, which provides insights into the behaviour of the seismic activity in the study region with only the radon information. In addition, the study reveals certain characteristics that could be used as precursors of earthquakes at different scales: weeks in the case of the estimated daily seismic activity rate, and days in the case of the short-period signal obtained by the wavelet analysis. The results obtained for this region allow us to hope that the analysis of the radon time series can become an effective complement to the conventional seismic analysis used in operational earthquake forecasting. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sensors in 2022)

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13 pages, 1670 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comparison of Electrodermal Activity from Multiple Body Locations Based on Standard EDA Indices’ Quality and Robustness against Motion Artifact

by Md-Billal Hossain, Youngsun Kong, Hugo F. Posada-Quintero and Ki H. Chon

Sensors 2022, 22(9), 3177; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22093177 - 21 Apr 2022

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3250

Abstract

The most traditional sites for electrodermal activity (EDA) data collection, palmar locations such as fingers or palms, are not usually recommended for ambulatory monitoring given that subjects have to use their hands regularly during their daily activities, and therefore, alternative sites are often sought for EDA data collection. In this study, we collected EDA signals (n = 23 subjects, 19 male) from four measurement sites (forehead, back of neck, finger, and inner edge of foot) during cognitive stress and induction of mild motion artifacts by walking and one-handed weightlifting. Furthermore, we computed several EDA indices from the EDA signals obtained from different sites and evaluated their efficiency to classify cognitive stress from the baseline state. We found a high within-subject correlation between the EDA signals obtained from the finger and the feet. Consistently high correlation was also found between the finger and the foot EDA in both the phasic and tonic components. Statistically significant differences were obtained between the baseline and cognitive stress stage only for the EDA indices computed from the finger and the foot EDA. Moreover, the receiver operating characteristic curve for cognitive stress detection showed a higher area-under-the-curve for the EDA indices computed from the finger and foot EDA. We also evaluated the robustness of the different body sites against motion artifacts and found that the foot EDA location was the best alternative to other sites. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sensors in 2022)

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13 pages, 4783 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Single-Element and MIMO Circularly Polarized Microstrip Antennas with Negligible Back Radiation for 5G Mid-Band Handsets

by Falih M. Alnahwi, Yasir I. A. Al-Yasir, Chan Hwang See and Raed A. Abd-Alhameed

Sensors 2022, 22(8), 3067; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22083067 - 16 Apr 2022

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2115

Abstract

In this paper, single-element and MIMO microstrip antenna with two pairs of unequal slits is proposed as a circularly polarized antenna with negligible back radiation for 5G mid-band handsets. The unequal pairs of slits are engraved on the antenna patch to guarantee the presence of the circular polarization (CP). The proximity-coupled feeding technique is used to excite the proposed microstrip antenna in order to provide larger antenna −10 dB bandwidth which approaches 10.8% (3.48–3.87 GHz). A novel analysis technique is proposed in this paper that demonstrates the 3D axial ratio pattern in order to generate CP in the broadside direction without affecting the structure of the ground plane which ensures weak back radiation. The 3 dB axial ratio bandwidth (ARBW) is found to be equal to 4.1% extended along the range (3.58–3.73 GHz). To make the design more compatible with the 5G mid-band handsets, the 2 × 2 MIMO structure of the proposed antenna with reduced mutual coupling (less than −20 dB) is also presented in this work. The simulation and measured results are in good agreement, and both verify the CP characteristics and the weak back radiation of the proposed antenna. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sensors in 2022)

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12 pages, 2934 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Contribution of Singular Spectral Analysis to Forecasting and Anomalies Detection of Indoors Air Quality

by Felipe Espinosa, Ana B. Bartolomé, Pablo Villoria Hernández and M. C. Rodriguez-Sanchez

Sensors 2022, 22(8), 3054; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22083054 - 15 Apr 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1530

Abstract

The high impact of air quality on environmental and human health justifies the increasing research activity regarding its measurement, modelling, forecasting and anomaly detection. Raw data offered by sensors usually makes the mentioned time series disciplines difficult. This is why the application of techniques to improve time series processing is a challenge. In this work, Singular Spectral Analysis (SSA) is applied to air quality analysis from real recorded data as part of the Help Responder research project. Authors evaluate the benefits of working with SSA processed data instead of raw data for modelling and estimation of the resulting time series. However, what is more relevant is the proposal to detect indoor air quality anomalies based on the analysis of the time derivative SSA signal when the time derivative of the noisy original data is useless. A dual methodology, evaluating level and dynamics of the SSA signal variation, contributes to identifying risk situations derived from air quality degradation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sensors in 2022)

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13 pages, 2151 KiB

Open AccessArticle

What Can 5G Do for Public Safety? Structural Health Monitoring and Earthquake Early Warning Scenarios

by Fabio Franchi, Andrea Marotta, Claudia Rinaldi, Fabio Graziosi, Luciano Fratocchi and Massimo Parisse

Sensors 2022, 22(8), 3020; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22083020 - 14 Apr 2022

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2391

Abstract

The 5th generation of mobile networks has come to the market bringing the promise of disruptive performances as low latency, availability and reliability, imposing the development of the so-called “killer applications”. This contribution presents a 5G use case in the context of Structural Health Monitoring which guarantees an unprecedented level of reliability when exploited for public safety purposes as Earthquake Early Warning. The interest on this topic is at first justified through a deep market analysis, and subsequently declined in terms of public safety benefits. A specific sensor board, guaranteeing real-time processing and 5G connectivity, is presented as the foundation on which the architecture of the network is designed and developed. Advantages of 5G-enabled urban safety are then discussed and proven in the experimentation results, showing that the proposed architecture guarantees lower latency delays and overcome the impairments of cloud solutions especially in terms of delays variability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sensors in 2022)

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19 pages, 7702 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Use of Genetic Algorithms for Design an FPGA-Integrated Acoustic Camera

by Sanja Grubeša, Jasna Stamać, Mia Suhanek and Antonio Petošić

Sensors 2022, 22(8), 2851; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22082851 - 08 Apr 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2733

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to design a broadband acoustic camera using micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) microphones. The paper describes how an optimization of the microphone array has been carried out. Furthermore, the final goal of the described optimization is that the gain in the desired direction and the attenuation of side lobes is maximized at a frequency up to 4 kHz. Throughout the research, various shapes of microphone arrays and their directivity patterns have been considered and analyzed using newly developed algorithms implemented in Matlab. A hemisphere algorithm, genetic algorithm, and genetic square algorithm were used to find the optimal position and number of microphones placed on an acoustic camera. The proposed acoustic camera design uses a large number of microphones for high directional selectivity, while a field programmable gate array system on a chip (FPGA SoC) is selected as the processing element of the system. According to the obtained results, three different acoustic camera prototypes were developed. This paper presents simulations of their characteristics, compares the obtained measurements, and discusses the positive and negative sides of each acoustic camera prototype. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sensors in 2022)

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18 pages, 15461 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Multiscale Sensing of Bone-Implant Loosening for Multifunctional Smart Bone Implants: Using Capacitive Technologies for Precision Controllability

by Inês Peres, Pedro Rolo, Jorge A. F. Ferreira, Susana C. Pinto, Paula A. A. P. Marques, António Ramos and Marco P. Soares dos Santos

Sensors 2022, 22(7), 2531; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22072531 - 25 Mar 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2766

Abstract

The world population growth and average life expectancy rise have increased the number of people suffering from non-communicable diseases, namely osteoarthritis, a disorder that causes a significant increase in the years lived with disability. Many people who suffer from osteoarthritis undergo replacement surgery. Despite the relatively high success rate, around 10% of patients require revision surgeries, mostly because existing implant technologies lack sensing devices capable of monitoring the bone–implant interface. Among the several monitoring methodologies already proposed as substitutes for traditional imaging methods, cosurface capacitive sensing systems hold the potential to monitor the bone–implant fixation states, a mandatory capability for long-term implant survival. A multifaceted study is offered here, which covers research on the following points: (1) the ability of a cosurface capacitor network to effectively monitor bone loosening in extended peri-implant regions and according to different stimulation frequencies; (2) the ability of these capacitive architectures to provide effective sensing in interfaces with hydroxyapatite-based layers; (3) the ability to control the operation of cosurface capacitive networks using extracorporeal informatic systems. In vitro tests were performed using a web-based network sensor composed of striped and interdigitated capacitive sensors. Hydroxyapatite-based layers have a minor effect on determining the fixation states; the effective operation of a sensor network-based solution communicating through a web server hosted on Raspberry Pi was shown. Previous studies highlight the inability of current bone–implant fixation monitoring methods to significantly reduce the number of revision surgeries, as well as promising results of capacitive sensing systems to monitor micro-scale and macro-scale bone–interface states. In this study, we found that extracorporeal informatic systems enable continuous patient monitoring using cosurface capacitive networks with or without hydroxyapatite-based layers. Findings presented here represent significant advancements toward the design of future multifunctional smart implants. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sensors in 2022)

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Review

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17 pages, 674 KiB

Open AccessReview

Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Smart Technologies for Nondestructive Evaluation

by Hossein Taheri, Maria Gonzalez Bocanegra and Mohammad Taheri

Sensors 2022, 22(11), 4055; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22114055 - 27 May 2022

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 4741

Abstract

Nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques are used in many industries to evaluate the properties of components and inspect for flaws and anomalies in structures without altering the part’s integrity or causing damage to the component being tested. This includes monitoring materials’ condition (Material State Awareness (MSA)) and health of structures (Structural Health Monitoring (SHM)). NDE techniques are highly valuable tools to help prevent potential losses and hazards arising from the failure of a component while saving time and cost by not compromising its future usage. On the other hand, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) techniques are useful tools which can help automating data collection and analyses, providing new insights, and potentially improving detection performance in a quick and low effort manner with great cost savings. This paper presents a survey on state of the art AI-ML techniques for NDE and the application of related smart technologies including Machine Vision (MV) and Digital Twins in NDE. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sensors in 2022)

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31 pages, 1095 KiB

Open AccessReview

Roadside Unit Deployment in Internet of Vehicles Systems: A Survey

by Abderrahim Guerna, Salim Bitam and Carlos T. Calafate

Sensors 2022, 22(9), 3190; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22093190 - 21 Apr 2022

Cited by 38 | Viewed by 9110

Abstract

In recent years, the network technology known as Internet of Vehicles (IoV) has been developed to improve road safety and vehicle security, with the goal of servicing the digital demands of car drivers and passengers. However, the highly dynamical network topology that characterizes these networks, and which often leads to discontinuous transmissions, is one of the most significant challenges of IoV. To address this issue, IoV infrastructure-based components known as roadside units (RSU) are designed to play a critical role by providing continuous transmission coverage and permanent connectivity. However, the main challenges that arise when deploying RSUs are balancing IoVs’ performances and total cost so that optimal vehicle service coverage is provided with respect to some target Quality of Service (QoS) such as: service coverage, throughput, low latency, or energy consumption. This paper provides an in-depth survey of RSU deployment in IoV networks, discussing recent research trends in this field, and summarizing of a number of previous papers on the subject. Furthermore, we highlight that two classes of RSU deployment can be found in the literature—static and dynamic—the latter being based on vehicle mobility. A comparison between the existing RSU deployment schemes proposed in existing literature, as well as the various networking metrics, are presented and discussed. Our comparative study confirms that the performance of the different RSU placement solutions heavily depends on several factors such as road shape, particularity of road segments (like accident-prone ones), wireless access methods, mobility model, and vehicles’ distribution over time and space. Besides that, we review the most important RSU placement approaches, highlighting their strengths and limitations. Finally, this survey concludes by presenting some future research directions in this domain. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sensors in 2022)

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