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

在土建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、定位和评估严重加载事件和环境恶化造成的破坏。在休斯顿大学，基于压电陶瓷的智能集料(SA)原型已经被设计用于混凝土结构。SA继承了PZT的特性，具有既可以作为传感器又可以作为执行器的独特功能。作为一种执行器，SA激发弹性应力波在混凝土结构中传播，传感器可以检测到。与被动感知和独立主动感知系统相比，分布式主动感知系统表现出不同的感知和能量特性。本项目的目标是开发一种可扩展的框架和高效的算法，用于无线SHM系统中的协作主动感知。具体目标是：i)研究现实领域特定约束下的有源传感覆盖模型；ii)开发协作有源传感和处理的整体节能解决方案；iii)开发、实施和评估使用PZT和现成无线组件的SHM分布式有源传感解决方案。这项工作将产生更广泛的影响，缩小土木工程实践和嵌入式传感器网络社区之间的差距，联合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。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上进行工程和科学课程的综合开发。

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.