Development of an IoT System to Gather, Assess, and Improve Cyber-Physical Interaction Data

Long, Jason

Development of an IoT System to Gather, Assess, and Improve Cyber-Physical Interaction Data

dc.contributor.advisor	Behjat, Laleh
dc.contributor.advisor	Brennan, Bob
dc.contributor.author	Long, Jason
dc.contributor.committeemember	Bartley, Norm
dc.contributor.committeemember	Marasco, Emily
dc.date	2023-11
dc.date.accessioned	2023-06-28T17:55:57Z
dc.date.available	2023-06-28T17:55:57Z
dc.date.issued	2023-06
dc.description.abstract	A sensor network consisting of small circuits that can be attached to physical equipment in a classroom environment was designed, manufactured, programmed, and tested. Each sensor measures human interaction with the equipment to which it is attached based on motion and reports the data wirelessly to a central Hub computer. All sensor operation is autonomous and requires no direct user-input. The sensors optionally and automatically pair with users through an associated user-worn sensor. The sensor network operates continuously over a long period of time with zero maintenance or operator intervention. The intention of this system is to collect data in a classroom to identify what equipment students use regularly. With this information, educators can make informed decisions about the impact that various resources have. To prove the functionality of the technology developed, a study was done at a fitness center where the sensors were attached to exercise machines. This was a comparable environment to a classroom as it involves consistent human-equipment interaction and was more readily accessible for this research due to ethics involving young students in research along with access restrictions due to COVID-19. The work carefully details the hardware and firmware development of the sensors as they are intended to be commercial-grade yet low cost for mass production. Thirty-five Equipment Sensors and fifteen User Sensors were fabricated and installed in the fitness facility for a two-week period and produced over 30,000 data points. Using redundant sensors on each equipment enabled comparison of the technical performance without having to directly involve gym participants. This gave the benefit of an authentic testing environment where participants would not change their behavior due to the study. The sensor data was used to assess the sensor’s technical performance. The Equipment Sensors provided reliable indication of equipment usage. The User Sensor portion of the study was limited as participation was voluntary and only passively advertised. Recommendations are provided on how to improve the sensor network and use it for future educational research in the classroom.
dc.identifier.citation	Long, J. (2023). Development of an IoT system to gather, assess, and improve cyber-physical interaction data (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/1880/116677
dc.identifier.uri	https://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/41520
dc.language.iso	en
dc.publisher.faculty	Graduate Studies
dc.publisher.institution	University of Calgary
dc.rights	University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subject	Engineering Education
dc.subject	Smart classroom
dc.subject	Personalized education
dc.subject	Sensor
dc.subject	Motion sensing
dc.subject	Student interaction
dc.subject	Activity monitoring
dc.subject.classification	Engineering--Electronics and Electrical
dc.title	Development of an IoT System to Gather, Assess, and Improve Cyber-Physical Interaction Data
dc.type	master thesis
thesis.degree.discipline	Engineering – Electrical & Computer
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Calgary
thesis.degree.name	Master of Science (MSc)
ucalgary.thesis.accesssetbystudent	I do not require a thesis withhold – my thesis will have open access and can be viewed and downloaded publicly as soon as possible.