Overview

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Overview

Imagine a world in which structures have the ability to self diagnose locations of long-term structural deterioration, warn inhabitants of eminent collapse during large seismic events, and even assess damage in real-time from an external disturbance such as an earthquake. While such a world sounds like it is from a science fiction novel, it is on the brink of realization.

The Engineering Informatics Group at Stanford University is currently involved in cutting edge research aimed to make advanced structural monitoring systems a reality. The key ingredients to this project are in place: ideas, technology and initiative.

By drawing upon advances made during the recent boom in the technological worlds of wireless communications, micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), and integrated circuits, a low-cost modular structural monitoring system can now be designed. In systems used to date, a strong dependence upon a wired infrastructure renders them expensive to install. In addition, such systems impose a centralized approach to acquiring system measurements. The proposed novel wireless monitoring system will give system engineers ultimate freedom in designing their systems and an opportunity to back away from the centralized approach.