Wireless and Mobile Sensor Networks for Smart Civil Structures

Y. Wang
Georgia Tech, US

Keywords: wireless sensors network

Abstract:

Recent advances in low-power wireless sensor networks offer potential alternatives to cabled sensing and control systems used in smart structures. This presentation first describes a prototype wireless structural sensing system that has been successfully validated on buildings, bridges, and wind turbines. Solar panels are investigated as autonomous power supplies for long-term field instrumentation. The functionality of this prototype system has been extended to support real-time feedback structural control during earthquakes and typhoons. While the above wireless sensor network is ideally suited for monitoring global structural vibrations, there is a need for sensors installed at the component-level to monitor structures for localized damages such as cracking and corrosion. To this end, nanocomposite-based passive RFID sensors are being explored for strain and pH monitoring applications.