A Software Implementation of Multi-Sensor Data Analysis and GPS Integrity Assessment for Real-Time Monitoring Applications

Some recent developments in structural monitoring schemes have discussed the complementary benefits of integrating GPS positioning with other sensors. This leads to the challenge of having to deal with potentially vast amounts of data, requiring heavy computational and communication loads. Efficient data reduction techniques therefore become necessary tools for handling the large amounts of data generated. These techniques can be easily implemented in projects where the processing software runs on a centrally located control station PC, receiving real-time streams of data, and computing precise positions for all stations located on the target structure. In such schemes, integrity assessment also becomes an important task if the objective is to determine the actual response signature of the structure. This problem can be addressed by using statistical tools in which one or several parameters may change abruptly. In the first instance, biases or outliers due to sensor malfunction should be detected as soon as possible, and then the sensor isolated (and ultimately repaired) in order to guard against incorrect (or biased) deformation signals. The system reported here has been developed for the purpose of achieving real-time computational efficiency, time-savings, and integrity assessment of GPS coordinate results. The solution, which has been provided in a simple software implementation, is described and examples of its operation are given.