TABLE OF CONTENTS Chris Townsend, Steven Arms, MicroStrain, Inc.
Sensors integrated into structures, machinery, and the environment, coupled with the efficient delivery of sensed information, could provide tremendous benefits to society. Potential benefits include: fewer catastrophic failures, conservation of natural resources, improved manufacturing productivity, improved emergency response, and enhanced homeland security [1 ]. However, barriers to the widespread use of sensors in structures and machines remain. Bundles of lead wires and fiber optic tails are subject to breakage and connector failures. Long wire bundles represent a significant installation and long term maintenance cost, limiting the number of sensors that may be deployed, and therefore reducing the overall quality of the data reported. Wireless sensing networks can eliminate these costs, easing installation and eliminating connectors.
The ideal wireless sensor is networked and scaleable, consumes very little power, is smart and software programmable, capable of fast data acquisition, reliable and accurate over the long term, costs little to purchase and install, and requires no real maintenance.
Selecting the optimum sensors and wireless communications link requires knowledge of the application and problem definition. Battery life, sensor update rates, and size are all major design considerations. Examples of low data rate sensors include temperature, humidity, and peak strain captured passively. Examples of high data rate sensors include strain, acceleration, and vibration.
Recent advances have resulted in the ability to integrate sensors, radio communications, and digital electronics into a single integrated circuit (IC) package. This capability is enabling networks of...
