SBIR Phase I: An RF Radiation Empowered Sensing Method for Low Cost Structural State Monitoring

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段的研究项目解决了基础设施系统（如桥梁和管道）的分布式结构完整性监测。结构状态感测的现有解决方案是昂贵的、劳动密集型的、不可扩展的并且不可靠。该项目的重点是确定一种创新的，具有成本效益的，非侵入性的，可扩展的结构状态传感技术的可行性，称为主动RF测试（ART）。ART技术基于使用机械柔性贴片状无线传感器设备，该设备可以附接到结构的分布式点。ART使用从网络内能量源传递到传感器的RF能量。由于ART传感器贴片将是无电池的，因此它们将是耐用和环保的。该项目的预期成果是一种用于ART贴片传感器的新型无电池电源系统，包括接收和整流天线以及作为能量存储介质的薄膜超级电容器，一种节能的唤醒调度方案，其中传感器的有效占空比被同步用于相关测量，和柔性ART贴片传感器的概念验证原型。根据国家桥梁清单数据库，美国交通基础设施有589，540座桥梁，其中68座，第571章有缺陷该报告还指出，超过80%的有缺陷的桥梁超过30年。能源管道等其他基础设施也面临老化问题。美国国内有超过230万英里的石油和天然气管道，其中30%的管道使用年限超过50年。正如2007年明尼苏达州桥梁倒塌所表明的那样，老化的基础设施构成了重大的社会挑战。拟议的ART技术的独特功能？易于安装、低成本、可扩展性、能源自给自足和耐用性？使其成为对这一具有挑战性的问题的理想回应。该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I research project addresses distributed structural integrity monitoring of infrastructure systems such as bridges and pipelines. The existing solutions for structural state sensing are expensive, labor intensive, non-scalable, and unreliable. The focus of this project is to determine the feasibility of an innovative, cost effective, non-intrusive, and scalable structural-state sensing technology known as Active RF Test (ART). The ART technology is based on the use of mechanically flexible patch-like wireless sensor devices that can be attached to distributed points of a structure. ART uses RF energy delivered from an in-network energy source to the sensors. Because the ART sensor patches will be battery-less, they will be durable and environment-friendly. The expected outcomes of this project are a novel battery-less power system for the ART patch sensors including a receive and rectifier antenna and a thin film super-capacitor as the energy storage medium, an energy-efficient wakeup scheduling scheme, in which the active duty cycles of the sensors are synchronized for correlated measurements, and a proof-of-concept prototype of a flexible ART patch sensor.According to the National Bridge Inventory database, the US transportation infrastructure has 589,540 bridges, of which 68,571 are structurally deficient. The report also indicates that more than 80% of deficient bridges are more than 30 years old. Other infrastructures such as energy pipelines also suffer from aging. There are more than 2.3 million miles of domestic oil and gas pipelines, of which 30% are more than 50 years old. As demonstrated by the Minnesota bridge collapse of 2007, aging infrastructures poses a significant societal challenge. The unique features of the proposed ART technology ? easy installation, low cost, scalability, energy self sufficiency, and durability ? make it an ideal response to this challenging problem.This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).