Influence of the operation strategy on the energy consumption of an autonomous sensor node

Abstract

Motivated by the application of industry 4.0 and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, the development of cyber physical systems (CPS) is gaining momentum. As CPS require multiple measurement technologies to drive the intended function, e.g., condition monitoring and in situ measurement, the integration of measurement systems into industrial processes or individual products becomes a critical activity within the development process. Development methods like the V-Model support developers with methodological guidelines, but the related methods and models do not provide sufficient information regarding the energy supply of embedded systems. If the measurement system, consisting of sensor, calculation and communication unit is integrated inside an either sealed or moveable system, e.g., in a gearbox, ensuring a reliable communication and energy supply is a challenging task. This contribution therefore focuses on the energy supply, in particular the electric power consumption of autarchic measurement systems, referred to as sensor nodes. Based on a literature review of existing physical principles determining the energy consumption of semiconductors, a simple estimation model is derived. Estimation models in the current literature mainly focus on the effects of source code or software in general without analyzing a possible impact of operation strategies, such as generic data processing logics in practical applications. The model presented in this contribution is therefore used to identify the energy consumption of sensor nodes influenced by ambient and operating conditions of sensor nodes. Strategies are examined experimentally using an exemplary sensor node, a climatic chamber and a sensor-integrated gearbox as the system to be observed. An analysis of the conducted experiments leads to a more precise model, which is evaluated regarding its significance for predicting the energy consumption and the underlying simplifications. Finally, general relations influencing the energy consumption are presented and necessary research suggested.