An Ontology-Based System to Collect WSN-UAS Data Effectively

Sensor networks have proliferated because of their ease of deployment, low cost, and lifespan. Traditional means of data harvesting are through a mesh network of intermediate nodes. However, there exist some outdoor environments, where the orography, low density of sensors, communication range, and many other issues favor the use of unmanned aerial systems (UASs) to gather data from remote sensors. This approach (wireless sensor network-UAS, WSN-UAS) is simpler and more affordable compared with the deployment of a fixed communication network system but it introduces new challenges in the form of limited flight autonomy, and transmission and reception issues due to the mobility of the sink. This article presents an ontology-based path planning adaptation system, which is later integrated into the UAS payload providing autonomous flight replanning. It reduces the energy consumption of UAS and increases the data throughput of the WSN-UAS network by avoiding unnecessary journeys, improving the overall efficiency.