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A visualization platform for internet of things in manufacturing applications

Zhuming Bi (Department of Engineering, Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne, Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA AND School of Mechanical and Power Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China)
Guoping Wang (Department of Engineering, Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne, Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA)
Li Da Xu (Department of Information Technology and Decision Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, USA)

Internet Research

ISSN: 1066-2243

Article publication date: 4 April 2016

2105

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a visualization platform to control and monitor wireless sensor networks (WSNs) in manufacturing applications.

Design/methodology/approach

To make the platform flexible and versatile, a modular framework is adopted in modeling and visualizing WSNs. The Eclipse programming environment is used to maximize the scalability and adaptability of the platform. A set of the core functional modules have been designed and implemented to support the system operation. The platform is validated through a case study simulation.

Findings

The platform is capable of accommodating different operating systems such as Windows and Linux. It allows integrating new plug-ins developed in various languages such as Java, C, C++, and Matlab. The Graphic User Interface has been applied to process and visualize the acquired real-time data from a WSN, and the embodied methodologies can be used to predict the behaviors of objects in the network.

Research limitations/implications

The work has shown the feasibility and potential of the proposed platform in improving the real-time performance of WSN. However, the number of the developed functional modules is limited, and additional effort is required to develop sophisticated functional modules or sub-systems for a customized application.

Practical implications

The platform can be applied to monitor and visualize various WSN applications in manufacturing environments such as automated workcells, transportation systems, logistic, and storage systems.

Originality/value

The work is motivated by the scarce research on the development tools for monitoring and visualization of WSNs in manufacturing applications. The proposed platform serves for both of system developers and users. It is modularized with a set of core functional modules; it can be extended to accommodate new functional modules with a minimal effort for a different application.

Keywords

Citation

Bi, Z., Wang, G. and Xu, L.D. (2016), "A visualization platform for internet of things in manufacturing applications", Internet Research, Vol. 26 No. 2, pp. 377-401. https://doi.org/10.1108/IntR-02-2014-0043

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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