ACCIONA heads the makeSense R&D project to reduce Wireless Sensor Networks costs by 40%

ACCIONA Infrastructure is leading a research program known as makeSense (Easy Programming of Integrated Wireless Sensor Networks), a project aimed at reducing installation costs for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) and facilitating automatic and remote control for buildings and machinery.

The makeSense project, a part of the EU's 7th Framework Program, will simplify the programming of WSNs, enabling unskilled people to control, via intuitive diagrams, a range of parameters such as ventilation, maintenance, smart HVAC, monitoring of structures, etc.

This technology helps to keep down development and implementation costs by up to 40% and will follow sustainability principles by eliminating the need for cabling.

The results of the makeSense project will be applied to energy efficiency, construction process control and industrial production.

Other companies and organizations taking part in the project include the Swedish Institute of Computer Science (SICS), Germany's Universitaet zu Luebeck and SAP AG, and Italy's Universita degli Studi di Trento.

In the coming weeks the makeSense project's lab trial phase will come to an end and throughout February ACCIONA Infrastructure will begin to apply the technology in the Halls of Residence at Cadiz University Campus (Southern Spain) to measure results. The same residence is currently the testbed for ACCIONA's "I+D CLEAR-UP" project trials which aim to boost energy efficiency by between 7% and 35% in the buildings where it is installed, as well as enhancing the conditions inside the buildings.