Wireless Sensor Networks for Fire Emergency and

Gas Detection
Amro Qandour, Daryoush Habibi and Iftekhar Ahmad
Centre for Communication Engineering Research (CCER)
Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia
E-mail: aqandour@our.ecu.edu.au

AbstractEnvironmental monitoring applications require adept

networking strategies and reliable communications to ensure the
integrity of their most fundamental operations including the sensing duties, network-node interactions, and system resiliency to
unpredictable events. In this paper, we propose a re emergency
and gas detection system based on WSNs for both indoor and
outdoor environments. The challenges which are addressed in this
paper include: management of nodes, provision of algorithms, risk
modeling and analysis, and Over-The-Air-Programming (OTAP).

I. I NTRODUCTION
Recent advances in sensor technology and wireless communication have inspired signicant research interest in WSNs due to
their promising potential to support an extensive range of applications. Nowadays, WSNs have excellent integration capabilities
towards a bigger range of communication protocols, application
services, and software support. The Waspmote platform provides
comprehensive support to a variety of communication modules,
and boasts a sizable range of external modules which are used
in a variety of applications such as environmental, health, smart
metering, safety monitoring, etc.. In this paper, we propose a
monitoring system based on WSNs aimed at environmental and
safety applications. The system components include:
A. Sensing Algorithms
Strategic sensing algorithms are employed to deliver efcient
sensor computations and also to provide organized operations for
all associated devices of the WSN. In addition, they reinforce the
detection process using identication algorithms which determine
a suitable alarm format linked with a particular event or an
outcome.
B. Over the Air Programming (OTAP)
Remote access is adopted in order to enable users to monitor
various network activities such as retrieving sensor measurements
(gas concentrations), and network status parameters (power levels,
active nodes, etc.). These capabilities are possible with Over-TheAir-Programming (OTAP) techniques.

978-1-4673-0390-3/12/$31.00 2012 IEEE

C. Gas Monitoring
Each node is equipped with a variety of gas sensors including
Oxygen (O2 ), Methane (CH4 ), Temperature, Carbon Monoxide
(CO), Carbon Dioxide (CO2 ), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2 ), and
ammable alcohols.
D. GPRS Communication
Mobile telephony is fast becoming the most dominant telecommunications platforms in many countries. General Packet Radio
Service (GPRS) is the technology built around mobile phones to
provide many services used in everyday life. The GPRS module
in the Waspmote is capable of providing the following services:

SMS messaging or direct calls to specied phone numbers

used for alarm generation.
FTP server to download/upload les.
Internet access through TCP/UDP ports.

E. GPS Communication
The GPS receiver of the Waspmote provides information
regarding the following localization parameters: Universal Time
Coordinated (UTC), latitude, longitude, altitude, ground speed,
and direction.
F. Twitter Integration
This functionality is used for transferring received frames
from the gateway node to specic twitter account(s). The aim
is to enhance awareness among community members through the
concept of shared monitoring. That is, people are aware of other
dangers that affect other members of the community.
G. E-mail Server
An SMTP server is congured at the gateway to send regular
e-mail updates regarding the WSN, and it is also used to send
alarms in critical situations.

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II. BACKGROUND

6) Reliable data delivery: the DM protocol helps overturn

communication problems that exist in difcult terrains such
as dense vegetation, building walls, etc..
7) Node synchronization: low power sleep modes and synchronized wake up are supported by this protocol.

Research challenges [1], [2], [3], [4] which dominate WSN

implementations in environmental systems are:

Real time self-organization.

Fault tolerant routing.
Node localization.
Sizable coverage demands (different terrains and topologies).
Long distance communications.
Self-healing requirements.

Different techniques are currently used to address some of the

challenges of WSNs. The emergence of modern protocols and
radio communication technologies have increased the number
of outdoor WSN deployments. The sensor networks are used
in a variety of applications such as detecting re accidents [5],
studying the air quality levels, and monitoring vegetation growth
in forests. In this paper, we deal with the several issues that exist
in outdoor WSN applications including:

Reducing energy consumption in sensor nodes.

Delivering reliable environmental data from the source to
the destination.
Flexible network/node interactions using multi-protocol
communications.

A. DigiMesh (DM) Protocol

The Digi-Mesh (DM) protocol is a proprietary owned stack
which provides management and networking functions in the
WSNs. The main feature in this protocol is it allows mesh network conguration and topologies. The mesh network topology
is extremely useful in WSN architecture as it enables longer
communication distances to exist between the nodes and the basestation through a routing technique known as Ad-Hoc On-demand
Distance Vector (AODV). Furthermore, DigiMesh incorporates
additional features including [6]:

B. Ad-Hoc On-demand Distance Vector (AODV) Routing

This form of routing is used in the DM protocol to relay
data from the transmitting nodes to the base-stations or enddevices [7]. In a mesh-network topology, only a single node is in
communication distance with the base-station, AODV routing is
used to map the transmission path using multihop algorithms, and
also maintains a list of previously used paths in routing-tables.
Path discovery is achieved by means of ooding the network
with broadcast messages until the nal destination is discovered.
The path is determined for the delivery of data from the source
node to the base-station where it could take an N-amount of hops
before it is received. In the DM protocol, it is possible to specify
the maximum amount of hops allowed between routing nodes
until the nal destination, and once this value is exceeded the
data get dropped. In addition, DM enables multi-route requests
in order to select between various paths which are discovered; the
source node broadcasts a Route-Request (RREQ) message which
is received by any node within communication range. Various
paths are determined based on the routes found by each node, then
a Route-Reply (RREP) gets transmitted back by the destination
node which contains a list of all the paths discovered. The source
node receives the RREP and the path with the shortest RoundTrip-Time (RTT) gets selected to deliver the data.
III. S YSTEM A NALYSIS
A. Outdoor WSN for Fire Detection

1) Self-healing: node association or dissociation does not

affect the network performance, and therefore does not
cause a failure.
2) Peer-to-peer architecture: nodes are not subjected to obligatory relationships as in parent-child constraints, and there is
no hierarchical based network architecture which is present
in the Zigbee protocol.
3) Routing capabilities: AODV routing is used in the DM
protocol to improve the distances between nodes and basestations.
4) Route discovery: this technique uses broadcast messages
to determine the route for transmitting data from the
source node to the nal destination. Therefore there is no
intermediate requirement to maintain a routing map.
5) Selective acknowledgments: only destination nodes are able
to reply to route requests.

Figure 1.

251

Outdoor re detection architecture.

The system proposed in Figure 1 is an outdoor WSN which is

used to detect res. The sensor nodes are capable of detecting the
toxic gases released in the smoke. In addition, they also monitor
the Oxygen concentrations, temperature, and humidity levels in
the surrounding environment. The main features exhibited by the
outdoor re monitoring system: Power efciency applications:
The detection frequency is variable according to time
and date.
Manageable tasks executions using dynamic battery
threshold monitor.
Integrated GPRS module used to generate the alarms (SMS,
voice calls).
Integrated GPS module for locating the exact coordinates of
res.
Suitable for deployment in various environments such as:
farms, rural areas (countryside), national parks, natural resorts, etc..
B. Indoor WSN for Flammable-Gas/Fire Detection
The system proposed in Figure 2 is an indoor WSN which is
used to detect gas leaks, pollution levels, and re. The main tasks
performed by this applications include:
Centralized networking architecture.
Instantaneous alarm is generated, and transmitted to the
affected resident and the re-emergency department.
Preventative sensing algorithms.
Integration with Internet services.

The AODV algorithm uses routing techniques which enable the

sensor nodes to transmit data using hops as illustrated by Figure
3. The benets associated with multihop networks include:
1) Allows long distance communications.
2) Decreases the power consumption in the WSN.

Figure 3.

Multi-hop data network

D. Over The Air Programming (OTAP) Architecture

We propose the use of OTAP functions for the following
reasons:
Upgrade nodes over the air, that is, wired cables are not
needed.
Resolve network issues which may rise from communication
channel selection, and modication of encryption keys (datapayload).
Organize programs which are stored inside the SD module.
Flash the desired program onto microcontroller to provide
different operations as needed by the application(s).
The OTAP shell is executed inside command-line environments
such as the Ubuntu terminal. The functions that are available
include scan network, retrieve node bootlist, send new program
les, and start new program. For example, by executing the
scan command we obtain a list of nodes which are operating
in a specic communication channel. The output response of the
scan_nodes includes the MAC address, Node Identier (NI),
and the program name that each node is running. This can be
observed in Figure 4.
OTAP S h e l l O u t p u t
. / o t a p s c a n _ n o d e s mode BROADCAST t i m e 10

T o t a l Nodes : 2 Time e l a p s e d : 15 s
0
Node 0013 a 2 0 0 4 0 6 9 1 8 c 9 WASPMOTE1 p r o g 0 0 0 READY
1
Node 0013 a 2 0 0 4 0 6 9 1 8 b c WASPMOTE2 u p d a t e r READY

Figure 2.

Figure 4.

Indoor gas/re detection architecture.

OTA scan network output

C. Routing Data with AODV

E. Sensing Algorithms and Risk Modeling

We implemented a multihop network for its abilities to transmit

data between nodes in a Non-Line-Of-Sight (NLOS) environment.

We propose that algorithms should be used to direct the sensing

operations which are carried out by the nodes. The algorithms

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are based on risk models, these are used to distinguish between

different emergencies, then call the appropriate handler function
for each type that is found. The utilization of algorithms provide
many advantages such as:
Reduction in computational power in the nodes.
Reduction in transmission power used by the radio modules.
Event management based on highest/lowest priority tasks,
and adequate allocation of node resources depending on the
type of event.

The calibration process provides accurate interpretation of the

gas sensor measurements found in the environment. This is an
example how we achieved calibration for some sensors:
void get_Oxygen ( ) {
S e n s o r G a s . s e t B o a r d M o d e ( SENS_ON ) ;
S e n s o r G a s . c o n f i g u r e S e n s o r ( SENS_O2 , 1 0 0 ) ;
S e n s o r G a s . s e t S e n s o r M o d e ( SENS_ON , SENS_O2 ) ;
O2 = S e n s o r G a s . r e a d V a l u e ( SENS_O2 ) ;
s p r i n t f ( Oxygen , " Oxygen=%d " , O2 ) ;
}

Figure 6.

Oxygen sensor API implementation

1) SK-25 (O2 ) sensor: is used to measure the concentrations of

molecular oxygen in air between the 0% 30% range [8]. Oxygen concentration under normal air varies between 21% 30%
depending on the geographical location. At maximum sensor
resolution, voltage output is approximately 0.6mV , this value
corresponds to 21% concentration of O2 in air. In addition, a
decrease of output voltage implies a decrease in O2 concentrations. A linear relationship is formulated (Eq-1) that represents
the percentage of O2 with respect to voltage output of the sensor.
Oxygen(%) =

Figure 5.

5 VOU T
2

(1)

Fire risk levels

The risk model in Figure 5 is based on three different conditions: Safe, Medium, and High risk. The risks are inuenced by
environmental factors such as the surrounding temperature and
gas concentrations in air. The algorithms use the data from the
nodes to determine the type of event and its corresponding handler
function. Events are classied according to lookup tables which
affect the outcome of the handling-functions used by the node,
for example, the functions in Figure 5 are classied according to
the following events:
1) Condition-1: This event implies the area is clear of any
pollutants or re risk, therefore there is no urgency to
transmit the measurements. However the node will retain
the data in the SD memory.
2) Conditions-2,3: In these events, there is a high risk of
pollution, or re. The node powers the GPRS module and
transmits a warning signal (SMS, voice) to raise awareness
of the situation.
IV. S YSTEM P ERFORMANCE
A. Sensor Calibration Process
The proposed sensing architecture is illustrated by Figure 7,
which includes processes such as calibration, API implementation, and obtaining conversion formulas for numerous gas sensors.

Figure 7.

Sensors Architecture

2) MiCS-2710 (NO2 ) sensor: is sensitive to NO2 presence in

air between for a given range of 0.05 5 ppm. A buildup in
the source resistance is evident when the concentrations of NO2
increase. In [9], it is suggested that air resistance under normal
air condition is approximately 2200 . The air resistance (Rs )
can be calculated from the output voltage (Vout ) from Eq-2. We

253

conducted our own tests in order to verify the air resistance,

and also to obtain a match between theoretical and real life
measurements.


VIN P U T RLOAD
RS =
(2)
RLOAD
VOU T
The output voltage uctuated between 0.4 0.5 V olts for a load
resistance of 2.2 k, and supply voltage of 1.8 V olts. This yields
to the measured air resistance of 2828 . It is concluded that this
resistance is within the accepted range of the theoretical values
of this sensor.
B. AODV Performance in Stationary Sensor Networks
In this experiment, we investigated the reliability of AODV
protocol in routing sensor information using multihop transmission architecture to overcome the environmental barriers which
initially limited our communication range, and prevented peer-topeer association between nodes and base-station. The layout of
the environment is illustrated in Figure 8.

The results were calculated based on the number of packets

received or dropped at the receiver end. The nodes were setup as
follows:
Maximum number of allowed hops in all nodes is 7-hops.
Maximum number of network route requests is 3-RREQ.
Maximum number of packet delivery attempts is 2-attempts.
The results indicate that 86% of all packets were delivered
successfully to the destination. A total of 200 packets were
transmitted with maximum 4 hops per route were used.
C. Locating Nodes using GPS
Global Positioning System (GPS) relies on satellite communication to provide location and time information for users. NMEA
(National Marine Electronics Association) is a communication
standard used to specify the electrical requirements for GPS
navigational equipment. Serial communication in the NMEA protocol allows data rates between 4800 115200 bps. The NMEA
standard species techniques for interpreting frame identiers and
their respective data type. There are several important denitions
in the NMEA standard [10] which include:
NMEA-GGA: Providing x data to provide 3D location and
accuracy data.
NMEA-RMC: Provides location, speed, time, and date information.
NMEA-GSA: Provides details on the nature of the x such
as the number of satellites which are being used in the
current deployment.

Time : 1 1 4 0 5 6 . 9 0 0
Date :180811
Latitude :3145.0915
Longitude :11546.3228
Altitude :64.7
Speed : 0 . 2
Course : 2 9 1 . 0 1
Figure 8.

AODV implementation in stationary WSN

We placed the sensor nodes at random locations and distances,

except for the transmitter node which had to be out of the communication range of the base-station. Table I lists the obstacles
which exist around the testing environment.
Barrier Characteristic
Cement Walls
Wooden Doors
Distance to nearest routing node
Distance to furthest routing node

Value
Total Cement Walls = 5
Total Doors = 1
Dmin =8 meters
Dmax =25 meters

Table I
P HYSICAL BARRIERS IN AODV IMPLEMENTATIONS

Figure 9.

( hhmmss . s s s )
( Day : Month : Year )
( ddmm .mmm)
( dddmm .mmm)
( meters )
( knots )
( degrees )

NMEA GPS data frame

The GPS data in Figure 9 conforms with the NMEA decimal

representation. For example, a latitude of 3135.0915 (decimal) is
equivalent to -31 27 3.2934" (dd:mm:ss).
D. Node Functions

In this experiment, we setup a WSN to detect the fumes exiting

from the car exhaust system. The sensor nodes are equipped
with gas sensors such as CO, CO2 , NH3 (Ammonia), and H2 S
(Hydrogen Sulphide). The functions of the sensor nodes include:
1) Collect gas measurements.

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functions are used in emergency events such as re accidents,

or increasing pollution levels. For example, let us assume that
a sensor node has detected a decrease in O2 levels below 18%.
Firstly, the GPRS module gets switched on and then waits for the
signal which connects it with the mobile network. Secondly, it
calls a specied mobile telephone number in which the recipient
is expected to become informed of the emergency. And lastly, the
information regarding this particular event are appended to a le
located in the SD memory and then uploaded to an FTP server.
Figure 10.

2) Analyze toxicity.
3) Apply risk analysis.
4) Transmit alarm signals.
5) Save data into memory.
Under normal conditions (no pollution risk), the nodes save
energy by switching off the radio, GPS, and GPRS modules. The
non-transmitted information are retained on the memory card onboard the sensor node. This procedure is highlighted in Figure 11.
Furthermore, let us assume that a node has detected abnormalities
in CO2 , O2 , and other fuel by-products as illustrated in Figure 10.
In this event (Flag=15), an emergency task handler is triggered,
then an alarm is generated based on the type of task and level of
the risk involved (Alarm Level=3).
/ *W r i t i n g t o uSD Memory* /
char *CO2 ;
char * H2S ;
char *NH3 ;
char S e n s o r s [ 1 0 0 ] ;
v o i d Write_To_SD ( ) {
s p r i n t f ( S e n s o r s , "CO2:% s | Temp:% s | Power :% s \ r \ n " ,
CO2 , Temp , Power ) ;
SD .ON ( ) ;
/ / Powers t h e SD module
SD . m k d i r ( " S e n s o r s " ) ;
/ / Creates folder " Sensors "
SD . cd ( " S e n s o r s " ) ;
/ / Go t o f o l d e r S e n s o r s
SD . c r e a t e ( " G a s _ S e n s o r s . t x t " ) ;
/ / Creates the f i l e
SD . a p p e n d ( " G a s _ S e n s o r s . t x t " , S e n s o r s ) ;
/ / Writes data i n t o f i l e
}

Figure 11.

V. C ONCLUSION

Sensor measurements

Saving gas measurements in external memory

E. Remote Connectivity
We have congured the GPRS module to send e-mails, make
missed-calls, transmit SMS, and upload data to FTP server. These

In this paper, we presented two environmental monitoring

systems based on WSNs which are used for detecting re and
gas pollution in indoor/outdoor environments. We demonstrated
the use of over the air programming (OTAP) in order to upgrade/update the sensor nodes in a WSN. Also, we highlighted
the procedures involved in the calibration of different gas sensors. The experimental analysis cited in this paper included an
investigation on Ad-Hoc On-demand Distance Vector (AODV)
and Digimesh (DM) communication protocol in stationary WSNs.
In addition, we provided a real-life experiment based on toxic
gas monitoring in which we have outlined a number of features
including emergency response functions, alarm classication, and
interpretation of gas-measurements.
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