Advanced Experimental Setup for the Reliability Characterization of Radio-Acoustic Sensors in Water Pipes

The paper presents the design and construction of a test bench for the analysis and certification of radio-acoustic sensors inside conduits filled with liquids. It is a brand new test-set that integrates the capability to validate and calibrate (separately and together) the electromagnetic and acoustic front-ends of mobile nodes belonging to wireless sensor networks deployed inside conduits. The test bed consists of a pipeline that has been configured in order to host fixed and mobile wireless sensors, which can be connected by cabled and/or radio links towards the external part of the conduit. Inserting the sensor in a real scenario, with exact working conditions, parameters like the efficiency, the gain, the radiation pattern, the reflection coefficient of the radiofrequency component, the sensitivity of the acoustic component, the precision tracking can be efficiently evaluated and consequently a precise calibration is possible. The speed and pressure of the liquid, as well as the speed of the sensor, can be controlled remotely. A de-embedding procedure has been introduced, in order to eliminate the effect of the external noise.