Implementing Sink Mobility and Recharging Policies Using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have been a topic of research for decades. Researchers have been exploring different uses for UAVs with their growing popularity. In this thesis I develop a wireless sensor network (WSN) and introduce the theoretical effects of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for wireless recharging of individual nodes in the WSN. My research focuses on understanding how to use wireless recharging technology to maximize the lifetime of a WSN by simulating recharging on the physical nodes. Using a three by three grid of nine sensor nodes, I proved that recharging the lowest powered node in the network at each sink iteration increased the lifetime of the WSN by 538% when compared to no recharging. I also further investigate the potential uses of a WSN and UAV for detecting and deterring animals. Using wireless sensor nodes to initially detect movement, and the UAV to find the object proved to be a viable solution for offloading the more power intensive tasks from the WSN to the UAV.