The new Networked Infomechanical Systems (NIMS) architecture combines both fixed and mobile sensor nodes to achieve a spatiotemporal environment coverage that is dramatically advanced over that of either system alone. NIMS is applied to challenging environmental monitoring applications regarding primary problems in science and public health. The NIMS system includes a horizontally mobile node, a vertically mobile node, and many environmental sensors, actuators, and wireless network communication among these components. This presents a particularly capable monitoring system, but with associated high complexity that must be managed and presented properly to the system designer. This poster presents how EmStar-based architecture helps to achieve the critical requirements for the embedded system software architecture: (1) Support for autonomous and robust system operation in an unattended field environment; (2) Seamless transition from emulation, through laboratory-scale NIMS systems, to the field deployment; (3) Support for control and management of many complex device drivers that appear in NIMS electromechanical systems.
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