SPECIAL SESSION #13
Techno-Natural Systems: Sustainable Wireless Communications for Ecosystem Preservation
ORGANIZED BY
Alan Briones Delgado
Alan Briones Delgado
Universitat Ramon Llul
Maria Doglioni
Maria Doglioni
University of Trento
Jaime Oscar Casas Piedrafita
Jaime Oscar Casas Piedrafita
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
Davide Brunelli
Davide Brunelli
University of Trento
IN THE FRAMEWORK OF
EcoSentinel
The EcoSentinel project aims to establish a novel wireless plant-based communication system, using plants as natural antennas, uniquely powered by the integration of plant-microbial electricity generation seamlessly blended into the vegetation.
ABSTRACT
The integration of wireless communication technologies with natural ecosystems is paving the way for innovative solutions that minimize human impact while enhancing our ability to understand and protect nature. Traditional off-grid electronics often depend on batteries, which require frequent replacement, leading to high maintenance costs and environmental concerns. To overcome these challenges, research is shifting towards batteryless, nature-powered wireless sensor networks that leverage ambient energy sources to function autonomously and sustainably.
Due to the variability of the ambient energy, allowing computing to occur only sporadically, batteryless operation forces us to rethink common strategies to optimise the energy harvesting process, minimize the infrastructure energy consumption and maximise the sensor node activity.
This special session is supported by the EcoSentinel project (funded by the European Innovation Council (EIC) under grant agreement No 101186925), which aims to establish a novel wireless plant-based communication and biosensing system, using plants as natural antennas, uniquely powered by the integration of plant-microbial electricity generation seamlessly blended into the vegetation.
This special session aims to gather contributions on cutting-edge research in nature-powered systems, focusing on novel approaches that leverage biological processes for energy harvesting, biosensing, and sustainable connectivity, to support ecosystem preservation efforts. Interdisciplinary efforts combining biotechnology, electromagnetics, electronics, as well as environmental science will be explored to highlight the potential of Techno-Natural Systems in fostering resilient ecosystems.
TOPICS
- Bioelectrical energy sources in natural environments
- Living biosensors: leveraging biological processes for nature monitoring
- Batteryless, ultra-low power electronics for self-sustained ecosystem monitoring
- Sustainable antennas and low-power transmission technologies
- Electromagnetic modeling of biological systems
- Bio-integrated wireless communication systems
- Sustainable sensing for climate adaptation and ecosystem resilience
- Cyber-physical systems integrating natural processes and electronics for biodiversity conservation
- Internet of Everything for ecological monitoring
- Algorithms and architectures for energy-adaptive sensor networks
- Edge AI and machine learning for intelligent, low-power decision-making
ABOUT THE ORGANIZERS
Alan Briones holds a PhD in Information and Communication Technologies from La Salle-URL. His research is focused on the Internet of Things and its impact on different application fields (eNature, Health, Industry 4.0, etc.). He is the coordinator of the Blended Network Architectures area in the Research Group on Smart Society. He has coordinated research, forecast and feasibility studies for ICT infrastructures at the local, national and international levels with more than 10 years’ experience in several research projects related to digitalization. He has led different Internet of Everything in eNature field projects (EcoSentinel, GREEN TWIN) related to climate resilience/adaptation and environmental monitoring.
Maria Doglioni received the master’s degree in electronics and robotics engineering in 2022 from the University of Trento, Trento, Italy, where she is currently working toward the Ph.D. degree in ultra-low power circuit design and energy harvesting sources. Her research interests include energy harvesting and ultralow power embedded systems, with a particular focus on conditioning electronics for plant microbial fuel cells.
Oscar Casas received the Ingeniero de Telecomunicación and Doctor Ingeniero de Telecomunicación degrees from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Barcelona, Spain, in 1994 and 1998, respectively. He is currently an Associate Professor of Electronic Engineering with UPC and teaches courses in several areas of electronic instrumentation. His research includes sensor interfaces, autonomous sensors, electronic instrumentation, noninvasive physiological measurements, and sensors based on electrical impedance measurements.
Davide Brunelli received the M.S. (cum laude) and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy, in 2002 and 2007, respectively. He is currently an Associate Professor of electronics with the Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Trento, Trento, Italy. He has authored or coauthored more than 280 research papers in international conferences and journals on ultralow-power embedded systems, energy harvesting, and power management of VLSI circuits. He holds several patents and is annually ranked among the top 2% of scientists according to the “Stanford World Ranking of Scientists” from 2020. His research interests include new techniques of energy scavenging for IoT and embedded systems, the optimization of low-power and low-cost consumer electronics, and the interaction and design issues in embedded personal and wearable devices. Dr. Brunelli is a Member of several TPC conferences on the Internet of Things (IoT) and is an Associate Editor for the journals, such as Sensors and IEEE Transactions on AgriFood Electronics (TAFE).
