The essential component of all the control and sensory systems is a communication layer. The MODBUS protocol used in automation and sensory industry defines a simple format of communication using the master/slave principle, although since it originated in the 1970s it has become obsolete. In this article is presented uBUS protocol as an enhancement of the MODBUS protocol uBUS protocol proposal brings advanced features for today’s requirements for embedded applications. Enhancements include address extension to 4079 addresses, adding a new communication mode (group broadcast), delegating selected master features to slave, linking with other communication interfaces and securing communications layer. The main part of the article deals with the description of design and implementation of the uBUS communication security. An RSA algorithm that uses asymmetric encryption was used to implement communication encryption. The article presents a way of implementing such encryption and its effectiveness on various types of microcontrollers implementing uBUS slaves. Since the communication protocol security is designed as a separate layer, it is possible to implement different types of encryption.

Currently, we are experiencing an ever-increasing demand for high-quality transportation in the distinctive natural environment of forest roads, which can be characterized by significant weather changes. The need for more effective management of the forest roads environment, a more direct, rapid response to fire interventions and, finally, the endeavor to expand recreational use of the woods in the growth of tourism are among the key factors. A thorough collection of diagnostic activities conducted on a regular basis, as well as a dataset of long-term monitored attributes of chosen sections, are the foundations of successful road infrastructure management. Our main contribution to this problem is the design of a probe for measuring the temperature profile for utilization in stand-alone systems or as a part of an IoT solution. We have addressed the design of the mechanical and electrical parts with emphasis on the accuracy of the sensor layout in the probe. Based on this design, we developed a simulation model, and compared the simulation results with the experimental results. An experimental installation was carried out which, based on measurements to date, confirmed the proposed probe meets the requirements of practice and will be deployed in a forest road environment.

A considerable funds is spent for the roads maintenance in large areas during the winter. The road maintenance is significantly affected by the temperature change of the road structure. In remote locations may occur a situation, when it is not clear whether the sanding is actually needed because the lack of information on road conditions. In these cases, the actual road conditions are investigated by a personal inspection or by sending out a gritting vehicle. Here, however, is a risk of unnecessary trip the sanding vehicle. This situation is economically and environmentally unfavorable. The proposed system solves the problem of measuring the temperature profile of the road and the utilization of the predictive model to determine the future development trend of temperature. The system was technically designed as a set of sensors to monitor environmental values such as the temperature of the road, ambient temperature, relative air humidity, solar radiation and atmospheric pressure at the measuring point. An important part of the proposal is prediction model which based on the inputs from sensors and historical measurements can, with some probability, predict temperature trends at the measuring point. The proposed system addresses the economic and environmental aspects of winter road maintenance.

Sensory networks are part of a solution to monitor the required physical variables in the area of interest. Their type, the used communication protocol, plays an important role in the parameter of their complexity. One of the economical solutions is the usage of a 1-wire communication network that requires only 2 physical wires. The individual sensors or the nodes of the communication network are connected in parallel. The goal was to design and implement a universal low-power 1-wire bus module with a fully implemented 1-wire standard. As a platform for the development of such module, STM32-based microcontroller was chosen. The main advantage of this solution is the ability to utilize a sensor from a large variety of available sensors with a standardized communication interface. Our solution of the universal 1-wire module provides a single interface for sensors with different communication interfaces, while it still communicates with the standard 1-wire bus controller.

The representation of temperature measurement methods is worldwide, as is the number of industries that use them. Their utilization allows one to assess the object’s temperature relatively accurately and further according to the defined dependencies to evaluate its condition. In the medical sector, non-invasive temperature measurement methods are increasingly gaining ground. In our work, we focus on the design of a system for measuring skin temperature using digital DS18B20 thermometers. The technical design consists of the mechanical design of the sensor housing based on the requirements of healthcare professionals, the design of a 1-wire bus active pull-up driver with improved features, and the user software, allowing for the future implementation in various, not necessarily medical environments. The main contribution lies in optimizing the hardware design concerning the components’ parameters and surge protection. In the medical field, the aim was to compare changes in skin temperature in the shoulder region depending on the type of muscle contraction during static and dynamic components of movement and to record the thermal work of the muscle during activity in real-time. We experimented by applying temperature sensors to the deltoid muscle of the dominant limb in a temperature environment of 25.76 °C. In the experimental measurements, we demonstrated that during the three selected muscle work movements, there was a temperature change in the respective regions of the deltoid muscle for each of the three, which the temperature sensors could capture. Our results were statistically significant when comparing the baseline values, and the highest temperature reached. The level of significance $\alpha \leqslant 0.05$ and a low percentage of errors were valid.

This research addresses the long-term measurement of environmental data in geographically remote areas and an energy-optimized method of storing data on a storage medium. For this purpose, we have developed our measurement module ADL - Advanced Data Logger. In terms of connectivity, the module operates in 3 modes: offline - when measured data is primarily stored on the storage medium; IoT ready - measured data is stored on the storage medium and sent to the remote server in defined batches; online mode - when measured data is preferably sent to the remote server immediately after measurement. The design aims to minimize the module’s power consumption so that the autonomous operating time is close to one year. As part of the design, the simpleFS software module is designed for the role of a simple file system optimized to minimize I/O operations. Its other feature in data storage is the automatic normalization of the data transmitted from the attached sensors. The last part of the design is the AdlReader software solution, used to configure the hardware (HW) module and to retrieve the measured data files. We verified the correct operation of the ADL module along with nine sensors built in a vertical soil temperature profile probe in experimental installation and operation for two months. According to the requirements for our solution, the expected operation time of the ADL module is 9 - 12 months.