Smart-Dust is one of the potential sensor nodes to be used in this vehicle detection project. Applying MEMS technology, essential components for vehicle detection (processor, memory, sensor and radio) could be integrated into a circuit board as small as a quarter. Together with its power saving features, it could be a suitable candidate for implementing the detection networks.

Researchers at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) proposed the smart-dust concept four years ago. The idea was to sprinkle thousands of tiny wireless sensors on a battlefield to monitor enemy movements without alerting the enemy to their presence. By self-organizing into a sensor network, smart dust would filter raw data for relevance before relaying only the important findings to central command.

Smart-Dust designed by EECS department in UC Berkeley and Intel, manufactured by Crossbow is a family of wireless sensor nodes for enforcing such a concept. Thanks to the development of MEMS technology, essential components of a sensor node (processor, memory, sensor and radio) could be integrated into a circuit board as small as a quarter.

Moreover, it is also designed in a modular components approach. So that different sensor boards could be attached to the same mother board for different applications. Because of its tiny size and flexible hardware architecture, Smart-Dust is potential to be used in a wide range of applications beside in the battlefield. For example, it could be used to monitor the temperature and control the air conditioner in a building.