NeTS-NECO: A Framework for Cooperative Active Sensing in Wireless Structure Health Monitoring

在土木结构的整个生命周期中，必须及时评估其适用性。结构健康监测（SHM）策略测量结构响应，旨在检测、定位和评估严重荷载事件和环境恶化所产生的损伤。在休斯顿大学，原型压电陶瓷为基础的智能骨料（SA）已被设计用于混凝土结构。继承了PZT的特性，SA具有独特的功能，即它可以用作传感器和致动器。作为致动器，SA激发弹性应力波通过混凝土结构传播，这可以由传感器检测。分布式有源传感与无源传感和独立有源传感系统相比具有不同的传感和能量特性。该项目的目标是开发一个可扩展的框架和有效的算法，在无线SHM系统的合作主动传感。具体目标是：i）在现实的特定领域约束下研究主动传感的覆盖模型; ii）开发一种整体节能的合作主动传感和处理解决方案; iii）开发、实施和评估使用PZT和现成无线组件的SHM分布式主动传感解决方案。这项工作将产生更广泛的影响，通过加入这两个领域的研究人员的专业知识，以加强国家利益的民用基础设施的安全，缩小土木工程和嵌入式传感器网络社区的做法之间的差距。这项研究的跨学科性质自然有助于在本科生和研究生水平的工程和科学课程开发相结合。

Throughout the life cycle of a civil structure, its serviceability must be assessed in a timely manner. Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) strategies measure structural response and aim to detect, locate, and assess damage produced by severe loading events and environmental deterioration. At the University of Houston, prototype piezoceramics-based smart aggregates (SA) have been designed for concrete structures. Inherited from the property of a PZT, the SA has the unique feature that it can function both as a sensor and an actuator. As an actuator, an SA excites elastic stress waves to propagate through the concrete structure, which can be detected by sensors. Distributed active sensing exhibit different sensing and energy characteristics compared to passive sensing and stand-alone active sensing systems. The goal of this project is the development of a scalable framework and efficient algorithms for cooperative active sensing in wireless SHM systems. The specific objectives are to i) investigate coverage models for active sensing under realistic domain-specific constraints; ii) develop a holistic energy-efficient solution to cooperative active sensing and processing iii) develop, implement and evaluate distributed active sensing solutions for SHMs using PZTs and off-the-shelf wireless components. This work will generate broader impact by closing up the gap between the practices of civil engineering and embedded sensor network community by joining expertise of researchers in both areas to enhance the safety of civil infrastructures of national interest. The interdisciplinary nature of this research lends naturally to a combined engineering and science curriculum development at both undergrad and graduate levels.