MEMS-based wireless real-time health monitoring of bridges

This paper introduces a solar and wind powered wireless sensor node called DuraNode. It is developed at UCI and its capability demonstrated for real-time structural monitoring in a field experiment on a steel bridge in the UCI Campus. The DuraNode design is inherently low cost and supports not only robust, high-speed wireless communication over standard internet protocols, but also provides sophisticated power circuitry for multiple power sources that perform load matching, power distribution, recharge scheduling, and dynamic power management. DuraNode utilizes the technology that lead two of the authors (Chou and Park) to an award for the low power design contest at the International Symposium on Low Power Electronic Design (ISLPED) 2003. This paper further introduces highly cost-effective sensor network systems with real-time wireless communication capability in practical ranges of transmission distance over several miles. This capability coupled with a neural network analysis tool enables remote and yet real-time diagnostics of bridge strength subjected to operational and other loads. The network systems are used for Caltrans' bridges in Orange County, California and resulting diagnostic procedures are presented.