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

这一小型企业创新研究第一阶段研究项目致力于对桥梁和管道等基础设施系统进行分布式结构完整性监测。现有的结构状态感知解决方案昂贵、劳动密集型、不可扩展且不可靠。该项目的重点是确定一种创新的、具有成本效益、非侵入性和可扩展的结构状态检测技术的可行性，该技术称为有源射频测试(ART)。ART技术基于使用机械上灵活的贴片状无线传感器设备，这些设备可以连接到结构的分布式点上。ART使用从网络内能源传递到传感器的射频能量。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和作为储能介质的薄膜超级电容器；节能唤醒调度方案，其中传感器的活动占空比被同步以进行相关测量；以及柔性ART贴片传感器的概念验证原型。根据国家桥梁库存数据库，美国交通基础设施有589,540座桥梁，其中68,571座存在结构缺陷。报告还指出，80%以上的有缺陷的桥梁使用年限超过30年。能源管道等其他基础设施也受到老化的影响。国内油气管道长达230多万英里，其中30%的管道使用年限超过50年。正如2007年明尼苏达大桥坍塌事件所表明的那样，老化的基础设施构成了一个重大的社会挑战。所提出的艺术技术的独特之处是什么？安装容易、成本低、可扩展性、能源自给自足和耐用性？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).