A Wireless Sensors Network Development for Environmental Monitoring Using OPC Unified Architecture in a Generic Manufacturing System

A wireless sensors network for environmental monitoring using a standard communication scheme in a generic manufacturing system is developed within this research work. Parameters such as cost-efficient hardware components and high reliability performance were considered. Environmental variables considered for monitoring included: humidity, temperature, and CO₂ gas. Physical wireless sensors were used to gather such information from different remote locations. By its properties, ZigBee technology was selected and tested on different topology to integrate the environmental monitoring sensor network with the production system. This integration was made using a standard client-server model; this allows achieving standardization, compatibility and accessibility of data from multiple applications or devices that support the standard.