ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of typical industrial automation applications, explains how they differ from other domains, and highlights the key challenges in developing WSNs for the industrial automation industry. The chapter defines wireless sensor network (WSN) from an industrial automation point of view and details the key industry requirements and their impact on the core WSN technology. It describes a generic development cycle or process that highlights key challenges of developing WSN devices. The chapter describes the application of the reference case including the environmental conditions, application requirements, and business motivation. The main elements of the design and implementation are described to provide a basis for comparison in the following sections on development aspects. The chapter finally elaborates the key development aspects such as standards, low-power design considerations, packaging, hardware (HW) and software (SW) modularity, power supply, and component choice.
