Blended Intensive Program in IoT

The University of Zielona Góra, represented by a group of five students and an academic teacher, participated in the Erasmus+ "Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) in IoT." This initiative was organized in collaboration with the University of Jaén (UJAEN, Spain), Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen (THM, Germany), Instituto Politécnico de Bragança (IPB, Portugal), and the University of Zielona Góra (UZ). The invitation to participate was extended by THM as part of the "Cooperation of Universities in Central and Eastern Europe" (CUCEE) network.

The main objective of the project implemented under the BIP was to deepen knowledge in the field of the Internet of Things (IoT). The program, totaling 6 ECTS credits, consisted of two phases:

• Remote Phase: Lectures and laboratory sessions took place from March 19 to May 14, 2025.
• On-site Phase: Titled "BIP IoT @ THM," this phase was held from June 9 to June 13, 2025, at THM in Germany.

The IoT training program included online lectures and lab sessions, as well as on-site labs and project work. The online lectures focused on: an introduction to IoT, IoT devices and protocols (including MQTT), LoRaWAN and cloud platforms (Docker), and the application of artificial intelligence in IoT data analysis. The practical online labs covered: Thingspeak (configuration and data visualization), Node-Red and Grafana (smart home monitoring), deploying the THM cloud platform (Docker Desktop, MQTT, sensor data visualization), and MATLAB and artificial intelligence (preprocessing, feature engineering, ML modeling). The on-site labs included: implementing code on ESP32 for sending LoRa data and visualizing it, and programming Waspmote to send data to Thingspeak. Participants completed projects such as: Smart E-Paper Door Display, image recognition and classification with speech processing in MATLAB, Smart Supermarket Price Tags (product monitoring and price recommendations), and an environmental monitoring system with street lighting control.

Additional Activities

Beyond the intensive academic program, participants had the opportunity to engage in cultural and educational events that enriched their experience:

• Trip to Frankfurt am Main: Participants learned about the city's history and key attractions.

• Visit to Pfeiffer VACUUM: A trip was organized to this company specializing in vacuum technology. Students had the chance to learn about the company's production processes and the solutions it offers (pumps, systems, components, and services).

• Sightseeing in Wetzlar: A visit was made to the city of Wetzlar, known as the setting for Johann Wolfgang Goethe's novel "The Sorrows of Young Werther."

The main organizers and individuals responsible for the substantive content of the project were Prof. Ulrich Birkel (THM) and Mark Weber, M.Sc. (THM). Also involved in the substantive part were: Prof. José Ángel Fernández Prieto (UJAEN), Prof. Paulo Leitão (IPB), Luis Piardi, M.Sc. (IPB), and Piotr Powroźnik, Ph.D. (UZ). The next edition is planned to take place at the Instituto Politécnico de Bragança in Portugal.