Wireless crack measurement for control of construction vibrations

Miniaturized, wireless instrumentation is now a reality and this paper describes development of such a system to monitor crack response. Comparison of environmental (long-term) and blast-induced (dynamic) crack width changes in residential structures has lead to a new approach to monitoring and controlling construction vibrations. A low power consumption potentiometer displacement transducer and a short communication duty cycle allow this system to operate up to a year with AA size batteries. The system described won third place honors in the 2005 Crossbow Smart Dust Challenge, which represented the best executable ideas for wireless sensor networks. (Kotowsky and Ozer, 2005)