Structural Health Monitoring Using Wireless Sensor Network

Based on the journal, the project is focused on continuous health monitoring intended for high
rise buildings. The parameters considered are vibration, tilt and sag. The paper presents a methodology
which can be adopted for monitoring the health of civil structures remotely using wireless sensor
networks. The sensors used are accelerometer, piezo plate and IR sensor. The accelerometer and piezo
plate are used to measure vibration while the IR sensor is used to detect tilt. The values obtained from the
sensors are wirelessly transmitted using Zigbee which is connected to Arduino UNO microcontroller. The
received values are also stored in EEPROM memory.

Wireless Communication Solution for Distributed Structural Health Monitoring

The paper presents a comparison of several wireless communication standards with their benefits,
disadvantages and typical areas of application. The choice of a proper wireless communication standard
for strain measurement system which is being designed for a SHM project of a bridge is being discussed.
Measurements covered both static and dynamic effects. The sensor device is wireless and therefore uses
ISM band. The concept of WSN makes it possible to use multiple strain measurement devices deployed
on monitored structure. The last part presents the proposed structure and designed prototype for the
project. The chosen architecture and of the system and the program algorithm used for communication
and measurements are also described. The project solution bases on IEEE 802.15.4. The system has
external trigger from TRS as a way of awakening WSN nodes. The measurement node consists of low
power receiver and real time clock which are connected to a power source. The strain gauge and ADC
have separate DC/DC power converter. Microcontroller, transceiver and other parts have their own power
converter, which can be enabled by RTC and low power receiver. Strain gauges are connected to ADC,
which provides both excitation voltages on bridge and output voltage measurement. When
microcontroller is woken up, it enables analogue circuit and starts strain measurement. After computation
of acquired values, the microcontroller may enable transceiver to send results to a network gate and
further to a remote server.