=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-1336/paper1
|storemode=property
|title=Project "Unified Modular System of Remote on-line Monitoring of Environmental Parameters of Depositories and Expositions"
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1336/paper1.pdf
|volume=Vol-1336
}}
==Project "Unified Modular System of Remote on-line Monitoring of Environmental Parameters of Depositories and Expositions"==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1336/paper1.pdf
Project “Unified Modular System of Remote
on-line Monitoring of Environmental
Parameters of Depositories and Expositions”
Petra Štefcová1, Jaroslav Valach2 and Karel Juliš2
1
National Museum, Václavské náměstí 68, 115 79 Prague 1, Czech Republic,
2
Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics AS CR, v.v.i., Prosecká 76, 190 00
Prague 9, Czech Republic
petra.stefcova@nm.cz
Abstract The paper outlines basic concept of the system for indoor
climate monitoring of exhibitions and depositories of museums,
which is currently developed in a four-year project. The project
concentrates on design and deployment of system of sensors, the
related infrastructure for communication between these sensors and
the server for centralized data storage, access and processing. The
components of the planned system are modular in order to meet
specific requirements of various collections. The expected
outcomes also envisage the development of specialized sensors e.g.
for pest control and development of mobile version of sensor units
for supervision of collection objects during transport.
1 Introduction
The National Museum of the Czech Republic is the largest state-owned museum
in the country. It manages and curates large collections of much diversified
nature. As objects in collections range from minerals to herbariums and
taxidermied animals to precious works of art, any possible decay mechanism
known to operate upon collections can be found there. Therefore extensive
research and protection plan is fulfilled in dedicated laboratories of the
institution to improve collection care and make it more effective.
The buildings of National museum also vary considerably. Buildings’ period
and style span over several centuries from medieval castles and chateaus to
modern steel and glass buildings constructed at the end of twentieth century.
Some structures were intentionally built keeping collection and museum
functionality in mind, while others just happen to be converted into museum. In
the second case, needs of collections are met with great difficulties or only
partially as a trade-off. The reason is usually a conflict in needs of protection of
building authentic historical value and requirements of items kept in collections
[HKM+12], [LLR+08].
In order to prevail the above-mentioned drawbacks and to increase quality level
of protection of collections, it is necessary to overcome absence or
incompatibility of existing infrastructure of sensors and create a system capable
of continuous monitoring of indoor environment.
1
2 General description of the system
The goal of the system is to enable central storage, unification and data mining
of heterogeneous physical, chemical and biological data acquired by diverse
measurement sensor devices. This goal is achieved by development of hardware
platform alongside with a unified data structure. Unity of hardware and data
components will be supported by a central processing of remote data in
continuous way.
Therefore the requirement is that the system has to integrate various sensors in
one platform, make data available for a long time and also in a format readable
and easy to process in on-the-fly manner as well as ad hoc. Acquired data are
partially processed locally and then also stored in unified format on dedicated
server for consequent data-mining. Sensors, selected by requirements of
collection and environment, are connected to the control module providing
sensor interface and data acquisition and where possible, also all necessary pre-
processing. The communication unit is chosen and connected to the control unit
based on specific data transfer opportunities at given location: at some locations
metallic connections are available, while elsewhere only wireless connection
can be established (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Schematics of communication and control connections between units
showing scope of variables measured by sensors
The design of sensors also varies according to available power supply: sensors
can be made very energy efficient and fulfilling their duty for as long as a year
powered only by a pair of batteries. This is a necessary provision for situations
when sensor is located on a remote and hardly accessible place, or has to be
sealed in a display case with the exhibited object.
Another important aspect is that the modular system is built upon the concept of
“internet of things” making possible for one device to interact with others – to
use other’s data, or to order the other device to do something without direct
human involvement. Necessary prerequisite for a machine-to-machine data
exchange is computer-readable data based on rich metadata enhanced semantic.
Depending on task complexity and resources available, also design of units may
vary, from the simplest and single-purpose autonomous unit to the dedicated
data server. Tasks are distributed among units via hierarchy of layers as depicted
in Figure 2. The hierarchy also determines communication between units, e.g.
level of data processing and interpretation based on unit computational power,
communication bandwidth and energy-saving regime. The bottom two layers
can operate for a prolonged time off-grid.
2
Figure 2. Schematics of layers and their dependencies in the system
3 Sensors
The general goal of the project is thus the improvement of cultural heritage
objects protection against negative influences like unsuitable climatic
parameters of environment e.g. temperature level and fluctuations, humidity
level and the presence of volatile organic compounds (VOC) or by presence of
biological pests [Dvo01]. Therefore the development of specialized sensors is a
substantial part of the project. Development is carried out on variety of sensors,
which can be classified according to measures variables: physical (temperature,
humidity and light intensity), mechanical (vibrations, accelerations), chemical
(pH, VOC, acidity and alkalinity, corrosivity) and biological sensors. Only
mobile and pest detecting sensors would be briefly mentioned here (for a review
of specialized sensors developed for museums’ needs see e.g. [BCM+08]).
In addition to data from stationary exhibition room, data acquired during the
transport of a collection are crucial for their protection. In this case it is recorded
by a special set of mobile sensors capable of recording spectra of forces and
vibrations directly threatening the objects, as well as other parameters like
temperature, humidity and concentration of volatile compounds, which can be
time to time released by ‘protecting’ transport box.
As pest infestation represents a serious threat to collected items, it is an
important task to develop biosensors capable of indicating of pest presence and
concentration. Therefore developing reliable means for pest detection is given
considerable effort. Availability of communication networks as well as
affordable electronic components make it possible to build specialized sensors
for detection of pests and perform detailed automatized surveillance of vast
areas otherwise impossible to guard by museum’s personnel. Figure 3 shows a
simple camera-based device enhanced with image analysis application counting
increase of number of captured moths. As the flying insect sensor was located in
a remote area, only a limited communication bandwidth was available and
therefore it was a necessity to reduce the transmitted information to bare
minimum. Therefore image analysis was applied to “interpret” view field and
only a number of detected moths was sent to remote server.
3
Figure 3. Detector of flying insects with an example of image data processing
illustrating incremental counts of captured moths
4 Interaction with visitors
The project is focused mainly on monitoring museum’s collections. This
seemingly common task obtains a new dimension if it is not seen as mere
problem of indoor environment regulation and control, but also as a source of
valuable data, which may be of the interest not only to museum curators,
restorers and conservators, but also to public attending exhibitions.
This way task of museum environment control and its importance for collected
items protection can be made a part of visitors’ experience. The data records
elucidate many aspects of curating collection, but also pose a strong supporting
argument in favour of attempts to further develop virtual museums concept.
Data like this can raise visitors’ awareness on the problems related to protection
of priceless objects stored and shown in museums and also pave the road for
deeper understanding of transitions towards virtual objects as not only
enhancing and extending experience, but also a necessary step in protecting our
heritage for generations to come.
Our sensors placed next to shown objects can directly transmit and process
measured data and display it on-line on the screens located in the same
exhibition room. Information on indoor environment presented in real time in
accessible form remind visitors on delicate nature of the items and possible
induced decay or weathering, (see Figure 4). Sensitivity of the measurement is
sufficient for demonstration of feedback between time-dependent flux of visitors
and sudden changes in parameters like temperature, humidity and light intensity.
There is a positive response from visitors of exhibition intrigued by the
possibility to observe such a data.
4
Figure 4. Display of emperor’s uniform and empress Sisi dress in the Monarchy
exhibition –upper part of the figure. Temperature, humidity and light intensity
plots presented to visitors of exhibition
5 Conclusions
The National Museum of the Czech Republic is responsible for many
collections of very diverse nature, which implies that also threats of the
protected item differ significantly. The modularity of sensors is thus of great
advantage. Continuous evaluation of environmental parameters of depositories
and collections situated in the various types of objects represents a qualitative
improvement of collections’ protection, based on a possibility of a warning
system automation of abnormal state situation in a given location. This way it is
possible to eliminate or reduce severity of damages and losses in irreplaceable
historical collections by shortening of the response time.
More detailed description of the project can be found in [SVJ12].
Acknowledgement
The project “Unified modular system of remote on-line monitoring of
environmental parameters of depositories and expositions” is supported by the
programme of applied research and development of national and cultural
identity (NAKI) of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic – grant No.
DF12P01OVV27.
5
References
[BCM+08] Bacci, M., Cucci, C., Mencaglia, A.A., (et al.), 2008.
Innovative sensors for environmental monitoring in
museums, Sensors, 8, 1984-2005.
[Dvo01] Dvořáková J., 2001. Risk factors influencing various types
of materials in museum collections, Štefcová P. (ed.),
Preventivní ochrana sbírkových předmětů (in Czech), 2nd
edition, Národní muzeum, Praha, ISSN: 80-7036-129-8
[HKM+12] Huijbregts, Z., Kramer, R.P., Martens, M.H.J. (et al.), 2012.
A proposed method to assess the damage risk of future
climate change to museum objects in historic buildings,
Building and Environment, 55.
[LLR+08] La Gennusa, M., Lascari, G., Rizzo, G., Scaccianoce, G.,
2008. Conflicting needs of the thermal indoor environment
of museums: In search of a practical compromise, Journal of
Cultural Heritage, 9.
[SVJ12] Štefcová P., Valach J., Juliš K. 2012. International Journal
of Heritage in the Digital Era 1, 39-42. ISSN: 2047-4970,
DOI: 10.1260/2047-4970.1.0.39
6