Distributed sensing for quality and productivity improvements

Distributed sensing, a system-wide deployment of sensing devices, has resulted in both temporally and spatially dense data-rich environments. This new technology provides unprecedented opportunities for quality and productivity improvement. This paper discusses the state-of-the-art practice, research challenges, and future directions related to distributed sensing. The discussion includes the optimal design of distributed sensor systems, information criteria, and processing for distributed sensing and optimal decision making in distributed sensing. The discussion also provides applications based on the authors' research experiences.