A Service-oreinted Architecture for Structural Health Monitoring Using Smart Sensors

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) can be an important tool for integrity assessment of structures after extreme loading conditions, as well for ongoing maintenance of aging infrastructure. SHM gives insight into a structures’ response during an earthquake event which can in turn provide valuable information on the post-earthquake condition of the structure. The ultimate goals of implementing an SHM system are to improve infrastructure maintenance, increase public safety, and minimize the economic impact of an earthquake or other extreme loading event by streamlining repair and retrofit measures. Networks of wireless, smart sensors offer promise for accurate and continuous structural monitoring using a dense array of inexpensive sensors. Acquiring pertinent information from these networks is accomplished by leveraging the onboard processing capability of the sensor nodes to implement distributed damage detection algorithms. One of the major roadblocks to achieving such a system is the magnitude and complexity of the required software development. Service-oriented architecture (SOA) can significantly simplify this process by offering a modular, reusable and extensible approach to software development. Based on this approach, we have created an open-source toolkit for the development of SHM systems deployed on smart sensors that is available for broad use. This software facilitates the development of a variety of SHM applications using smart sensors and can be further expanded for other similar challenges.