Title: MOCUS: moving object counting using ultrasonic sensor networks

Authors: Quanbin Chen, Min Gao, Jian Ma, Dian Zhang, Lionel M. Ni, Yunhao Liu

Addresses: Department of Computer Science and Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, PR China. ' Department of Computer Science and Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, PR China. ' Department of Computer Science and Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, PR China. ' Department of Computer Science and Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, PR China. ' Department of Computer Science and Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, PR China. ' Department of Computer Science and Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, PR China

Abstract: Counting the number of moving objects in a given area has many practical applications. By investigating a series of state-of-the-art technologies, we propose a Moving Object Counting approach using Ultrasonic Sensor networks (MOCUS). In MOCUS, we deploy a network of three-node ultrasound sensor clusters, with each cluster having one ultrasound transmitting node and two ultrasound receiving nodes. Such three-node sensor clusters can successfully offset interference problems and accurately detect the direction of moving objects. In order to cover a wide area, MOCUS employs multiple sensor clusters, forming a wireless sensor network. To alleviate the impact of object moving velocity, shape of objects and distinguish closely tied multiple objects, we introduce intra-cluster analysis and inter-cluster cooperation techniques. We deploy a MOCUS prototype in our lab and evaluate the design through extensive experiments.

Keywords: moving objects; object counting; wireless sensor networks; ultrasound; clustering; wireless networks; ultrasonic sensor networks; sensor clusters.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSNET.2008.016462

International Journal of Sensor Networks, 2008 Vol.3 No.1, pp.55 - 65

Published online: 30 Dec 2007 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article