System for Monitoring Environmental Variables in a Pharmacy Area Using an Alternative IoT Architecture (a Pilot Study)

Abstract

Hospitals and health centers that own a pharmacy area require continuous and safe monitoring of environmental variables. The rigorous control of temperature and relative humidity allows the physical and chemical properties of the medicines to be conserved, according to the suggestion of suppliers and current laws that regulate the conservation of medicines. The Internet of things (IoT) allows for monitoring and controlling specific areas by obtaining and publishing relevant data directly in the cloud, enabling intelligent systems to make early decisions when an abnormality is present in the area. However, for the IoT to fulfill its purpose, there must exist a permanent connection of things to the Internet, which is a challenge when there is low or no connection. Therefore, the purpose of this work is to implement a monitoring system for environmental variables under the condition of low or no Internet connectivity, using alternative technologies such as (GSM) for transferring data to the cloud. As a result of this work, the design and implementation of a continuous monitoring system for environmental variables in the hospital pharmacy area is presented. This system guarantees the integrity and security of the acquired data due to the standardized communication protocols that were implemented and the alternative IoT architecture under which the system was designed.