Un algoritmo de control de activación de módulos GPS para fines de ahorro de energía en dispositivos portátiles orientados a estudios epidemiológicos

This paper proposes an algorithm oriented towards saving energy in portable devices for epidemiological studies, in order to increase the autonomy and amount of information required to improve the quality of the research and studies involved. The proposed algorithm acquires information from a GPS module, an inertial measurement unit IMU, a temperature sensor and a humidity sensor. First, the algorithm determines GPS activation if the IMU shows movement of the monitored person or object. Once the GPS is activated, the positioning data is acquired at a certain accuracy and acquisition frequency. Then, the algorithm will modify the operating demand conditions of the GPS module, based on the detection of the temperature and humidity in environmental scenarios with high probability of tropical diseases. Validation tests were performed with a portable device developed with the indicated sensors and modules, evaluating the autonomy of this with the implementation of the proposed algorithm and without it. The results showed an increase in autonomy, that is equivalent to an additional 2 days of monitoring.