Accurate data on Venetian canal traffic, currents and erosion patterns due to tides and boat wakes, are needed to allow the prevention of damage currently occurring in the canals. The project team intended to design an autonomous data logger equipped with radio frequency identification (RFID) and other sensors to provide data on the canals. The data acquisition device remotely monitored boat traffic for both long-term and short-term data collection. An array of several sensors, placed along the bank of the canal, were incorporated to recognize and count boats and to record their velocity, as well as to measure tide height, wake height, and noise level. The system consists of a commercially purchased RFID unit operating at 2.45 GHz and an embedded microcontroller used to control the external sensors and to store the data collected from the sensors. Power was provided by a 9 Volt sealed lead acid battery. On site testing revealed that some of the sensors functioned as expected while others deviated from expectations based on lab tests.

• This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

Creator

• Newton, Benjamin E.
• Vacca, Thomas Michael
• Blomberg, Adam Charles
• Mandrila, Ana-Maria Elena

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• 99A009M

Advisor

• Carrera, Fabio
• Looft, Fred J.

Year

• 1999

Sponsor

• City of Venice, Italy

Date created

• 1999-01-01

Resource type

• Major Qualifying Project

Major

• Electrical Engineering

Rights statement

• In Copyright