Proactive Monitoring of Moving Objects

Positioning systems, combined with inexpensive communication technologies, open interesting possibilities to implement real-time applications that monitor moving objects and that support decision making. This paper first discusses basic requirements for proactive real-time monitoring applications. Then, it proposes an architecture to deploy applications that monitor moving objects, are pro-active, explore trajectory semantics and are sensitive to environment dynamics. The central argument is that proactive monitoring based on process models, such as workflows, is a promising strategy to enhance applications that control moving objects. Finally, to validate the proposed architecture, the paper presents a prototype application to monitor a fleet of trucks. The application uses workflows to model truck trips and features a module to extract data from the Web which helps detect changes on road conditions.