Hi… I am currently working on a design thesis and am investigating the possibilities of a component-based smart building system. Basically this would consist of an irregular space frame (see http://www.cuee.titech.ac.jp/21coe/Conf … t/fig1.png for an example), where each node in the fame would have some sort of way of communicating with a central computer system, and would be able to identify its position relative to the rest of the assembly. Perhaps this could be done with RFID? I’m not exactly sure this is possible, but I would be very interested in finding a reasonably low cost means of doing this, preferably wireless. I have some experience with using an arduino board to convert analog to digital signals via usb, but I know very little about the electronics side of it. I would be very grateful if anyone can offer me any kind of suggestions. Thanks!
Industry trend in this area is either ISA100.11a with the IEEE 802.15.4 MAC and PHY, or the ZigBee PRO standard with the IEEE 802.15.4 MAC.
Both have user profiles for smart meters, home automation, etc. The ISA protocols lean more to industrial process control with precise latency management. The ZigBee PRO leans toward utilities’ smart meters. Both ISA and ZigBee contend for smart wireless sensors in oil & gas, and perhaps HVAC in smart/green buildings.
Many products on the market use the IEEE 802.15.4 MAC and PHY modules such as Digi XBee series 1 or 2, or its competitors from Jennic and others, but with proprietary applications.
In the wired world, there is HART used in process control. And many sensors/controllers using IEEE 802.3/ethernet.
Sensors Magazine is a good read.