Understanding Smart Sensors - Nomads.usp

304 Understanding Smart SensorsStethophonesDopplerElectronicandriesstethoscopeBelt ampGraphic equalizerBelt ampDolby encoderDolby encoderCODECHyperspaceCODECFigure 13.5 Telestethoscope, a stethoscope that allows a remote doctor to analyze apatient. (After: [11].)used for the Internet as well [5]. Every sensor connected to a TCP/IP must havean IP address. The software must allow the proper configuration of the sensors.Monitoring of remote locations via the Internet was discussed earlier inthis chapter. Researchers also are working on telerobotics for remote control ofmachinery [13]. One of the key issues is a standard for interfacing modular portionsof the system. A virtual environment has been created with an Internetextension that allows remote manipulation of the robotic system. The key communicationelement is the use of virtual reality modeling language (VRML), anextension of hypertext markup language (HTML). VRML allows developers tocreate programs that interact with the three-dimensional environment. UsingVRML, generic sensors would be combined with robotic machinery tomanipulate material and information that is passed to successive stages of thelaboratory robotic. The extent or complexity of the robotic chain depends onsolving a number of issues, including proper handling of queuing requests.The effort for remote control in networks is already outside the laboratoryand part of the industrial world. Figure 13.6 shows the general direction offuture Internet software releases from one of the largest factory automationsoftware suppliers [14]. The small ovals on each object represent scaled versionsof available commercial software and provide the Internet-enabling properties