An Open-Source Solution for Mobile Robot Based Environmental Sensing

Internet of Things-based devices are equipped with sensors and network connections to collect data and store this data to cloud services. This collected data allows operational decision-making processes to be based on a more accurate picture of the current state of physical environment than before. Existing data collection methods often rely on sensors in fixed locations to obtain environmental measurements. Such a solution is not very scalable in terms of the density of the measuring points. In a dynamic environment, the cost of maintaining such fixed-based solutions may also be high. A more flexible solution will be achieved by equipping an autonomous mobile robot with sensors. Mobile robots are increasingly being used for data-gathering in a wide range of environmental applications. However, a robotic solution can be expensive. In this paper, we present a low-cost solution based on open-source components. The solution utilizes a robot operating system, sensor and IoT-board based on open-source implementation. By implementing a pilot project, we concretize the potential of our approach to environmental monitoring. Potential application areas of this solution include the microclimate control of greenhouses and warehouses, for example.