Quasi-self-powered Infrastructural Internet of Things: The Mackinac Bridge Case Study

Autonomous, continuous and long-term monitoring systems are required to prognosticate failures in civil infrastructures due to material fatigue or extreme events like earthquakes. While current battery-powered wireless sensors can evaluate the condition of the structure at a given instant of time, they require frequent replacement of batteries due to the need for continuous or frequent sampling. On the other hand, self-powered sensors can continuously monitor the structural condition without the need for any maintenance; however, the scarcity of harvested power limits the range at which the sensors could be wirelessly interrogated. In this paper, we propose a quasi-self-powered sensor that combines the benefits of self-powered sensing and with the benefits of battery-powered wireless transmission. By optimizing both of the functionalities, a complete sensor system can be designed that can continuously operate between the structure's maintenance life-cycles and can be wirelessly interrogated at distances that obviates the need for taking the structure out-of-service. As a case study, in this paper we present the design considerations involved in prototyping quasi-self-powered sensors for deployment on the Mackinac Bridge in northern Michigan, with a target operational life span greater than 20 years.

[1]  Shantanu Chakrabartty,et al.  Monitoring of repeated head impacts using time-dilation based self-powered sensing , 2014, 2014 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS).

[2]  Shantanu Chakrabartty,et al.  Gen-2 RFID compatible, zero down-time, programmable mechanical strain-monitors and mechanical impact detectors , 2013, Smart Structures and Materials + Nondestructive Evaluation and Health Monitoring.

[3]  Karim Chatti,et al.  Damage detection using self-powered wireless sensor data: An evolutionary approach , 2016 .

[4]  Shantanu Chakrabartty,et al.  Infrasonic power-harvesting and nanowatt self-powered sensors , 2009, 2009 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems.

[5]  Mohamed S. Shehata,et al.  Structural Health Monitoring Using Wireless Sensor Networks: A Comprehensive Survey , 2017, IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials.

[6]  Shantanu Chakrabartty,et al.  A new approach for damage detection in asphalt concrete pavements using battery-free wireless sensors with non-constant injection rates , 2017 .

[7]  Shantanu Chakrabartty,et al.  Self-powered piezo-floating-gate sensors for health monitoring of steel plates , 2017 .

[8]  Benjamin A. Graybeal,et al.  RELIABILITY OF VISUAL INSPECTION FOR HIGHWAY BRIDGES, VOLUME I: FINAL REPORT , 2001 .

[9]  Shantanu Chakrabartty,et al.  An Asynchronous Analog Self-Powered CMOS Sensor-Data-Logger With a 13.56 MHz RF Programming Interface , 2012, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[10]  Shantanu Chakrabartty,et al.  Monitoring of Postoperative Bone Healing Using Smart Trauma-Fixation Device With Integrated Self-Powered Piezo-Floating-Gate Sensors , 2016, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[11]  Shantanu Chakrabartty,et al.  Compact self-powered CMOS strain-rate monitoring circuit for piezoelectric energy scavengers , 2011 .

[12]  Shantanu Chakrabartty,et al.  Infrastructural health monitoring using self-powered Internet-of-Things , 2016, 2016 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS).

[13]  Shantanu Chakrabartty,et al.  Compressive Self-Powering of Piezo-Floating-Gate Mechanical Impact Detectors , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I: Regular Papers.

[14]  Alex Elvin,et al.  Feasibility of structural monitoring with vibration powered sensors , 2006 .

[15]  Amir Hossein Alavi,et al.  Detection of fatigue cracking in steel bridge girders: A support vector machine approach , 2017 .

[16]  G. Williger,et al.  National Science Foundation , 1962, American Antiquity.

[17]  Shantanu Chakrabartty,et al.  A Piezo-Powered Floating-Gate Sensor Array for Long-Term Fatigue Monitoring in Biomechanical Implants , 2008, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems.

[18]  Shantanu Chakrabartty,et al.  A CMOS Timer-Injector Integrated Circuit for Self-Powered Sensing of Time-of-Occurrence , 2018, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[19]  Karim Chatti,et al.  An intelligent structural damage detection approach based on self-powered wireless sensor data , 2016 .

[20]  D.P. Neikirk,et al.  Unpowered resonant wireless sensor nets for structural health monitoring , 2008, 2008 IEEE Sensors.

[21]  Shantanu Chakrabartty,et al.  An Ultra-Linear Piezo-Floating-Gate Strain-Gauge for Self-Powered Measurement of Quasi-Static-Strain , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems.

[22]  Shantanu Chakrabartty,et al.  Self-Powered Monitoring of Repeated Head Impacts Using Time-Dilation Energy Measurement Circuit , 2015, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems.

[23]  Shantanu Chakrabartty,et al.  Rail-to-Rail, Linear Hot-Electron Injection Programming of Floating-Gate Voltage Bias Generators at 13-Bit Resolution , 2011, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[24]  Hoon Sohn,et al.  Overview of Piezoelectric Impedance-Based Health Monitoring and Path Forward , 2003 .

[25]  Gokhan Kilic,et al.  Applications of ground penetrating radar (GPR) in bridge deck monitoring and assessment , 2013 .

[26]  Shantanu Chakrabartty,et al.  Self-Powered Piezo-Floating-Gate Smart-Gauges Based on Quasi-Static Mechanical Energy Concentrators and Triggers , 2015, IEEE Sensors Journal.

[27]  P. Casey,et al.  Federal Highway Administration , 1994 .