Hongwei Li

Bio: Hongwei Li is an academic researcher from Harbin Institute of Technology. The author has contributed to research in topics: Printed circuit board & Wireless site survey. The author has an hindex of 2, co-authored 2 publications receiving 17 citations.

Development and performance of wireless sensor network for structural health monitoring

Abstract: With recent advances in digital circuitry, wireless communications, and Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology have led to the emergence of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) as a novel class of networked embedded systems. Many projects and diverse applications for these systems are currently being explored. The determination of location and extent of structural damage known as Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is significant importance to civil infrastructures such as bridges, dams, offshore platform large buildings. For applying WSN to real-world civil infrastructures monitoring, sensor network architecture is proposed in this paper. The system development includes hardware and software design of the wireless sensor nodes, the design of the sensor network, and the capabilities for remote data access and management. With the ready availability of MEMS sensors, RISC micro-controller and RF unit, a wireless sensor node is designed and fabricated. The data being sensed by the sensor nodes in the network is eventually transmitted to a base station, where the information can be accessed. Via the Internet, multiple users with a proper access authorization to the URL site may simultaneously acquire, display data and monitor real-time performance of the structures remotely using a Web browser. In order to support hardware and SHM algorithm development, primitive software architecture is developed using commercially software systems. To demonstrate the feasibility and validity of the proposed WSN, the performance test is done in the laboratory.

Wireless accelerating sensor with digital signal as interface

Abstract: A radio acceleration transducer using digital signal as interface consists of radio transmit - receive module, microprocessor unit ATMEGA8 and ADXL202. It is featured as forming complete circuit by circuit board including radio transmit - receive circuit, microprocessor and acceleration transducer; and connecting two circuit boards through board edge for using one power supply. The designed subprogram can be inlaid at any position in program according to actual collecting requirement.

A summary review of wireless sensors and sensor networks for structural health monitoring

Abstract: In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the adoption of emerging sensing technologies for instrumentation within a variety of structural systems. Wireless sensors and sensor networks are emerging as sensing paradigms that the structural engineering field has begun to consider as substitutes for traditional tethered monitoring systems. A benefit of wireless structural monitoring systems is that they are inexpensive to install because extensive wiring is no longer required between sensors and the data acquisition system. Researchers are discovering that wireless sensors are an exciting technology that should not be viewed as simply a substitute for traditional tethered monitoring systems. Rather, wireless sensors can play greater roles in the processing of structural response data; this feature can be utilized to screen data for signs of structural damage. Also, wireless sensors have limitations that require novel system architectures and modes of operation. This paper is intended to serve as a summary review of the collective experience the structural engineering community has gained from the use of wireless sensors and sensor networks for monitoring structural performance and health.

A wireless structural health monitoring system with multithreaded sensing devices: design and validation

Abstract: Structural health monitoring (SHM) has become an important research problem which has the potential to monitor and ensure the performance and safety of civil structures. Traditional wire-based SHM systems require significant time and cost for cable installation. With the recent advances in wireless communication technology, wireless SHM systems have emerged as a promising alternative solution for rapid, accurate and low-cost structural monitoring. This paper presents a newly designed integrated wireless monitoring system that supports real-time data acquisition from multiple wireless sensing units. The selected wireless transceiver consumes relatively low power and supports long-distance peer-to-peer communication. In addition to hardware, embedded multithreaded software is also designed as an integral component of the proposed wireless monitoring system. A direct result of the multithreaded software paradigm is a wireless sensing unit capable of simultaneous data collection, data interrogation and wirele...

Wireless sensor networks for structure health monitoring: recent advances and future research directions

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a contemporary look at the current state‐of‐the‐art in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) for structure health monitoring (SHM) applications and discuss the still‐open research issues in this field and, hence, to make the decision‐making process more effective and direct.Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents a comprehensive review of WSNs for SHM. It also introduces research challenges, opportunities, existing and potential applications. Network architecture and the state‐of‐the‐art wireless sensor communication technologies and standards are explained. Hardware and software of the existing systems are also clarified.Findings – Existing applications and systems are presented along with their advantages and disadvantages. A comparison landscape and open research issues are also presented.Originality/value – The paper presents a comprehensive and recent review of WSN systems for SHM applications along with open research issues.

Wireless Sensor Networks for Structural Health Monitoring: Considerations for communication protocol design

Abstract: Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems have been used with many important structures to enhance the public safety and to reduce the economical losses. Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) is an emerging technology which can be deployed with SHM applications. However, some system requirements have been overlooked in the current WSN designs for SHM applications. Therefore a complete analysis in system requirements is needed for WSN for SHM. In this paper, the system requirements posed by SHM applications are considered to assess potential candidates for the protocols in WSN for SHM. Based on that, we show that none of the commonly available protocols satisfy all the requirements associated with SHM systems. Hence, it is necessary to modify the existing protocols or design an entirely new protocol to completely satisfy the requirements of WSN for SHM application.

A high computational power wireless sensor network for distributed structural health monitoring

Abstract: This paper presents the design of a wireless sensor network consisting of high computational power sensor nodes to support distributed structural health monitoring. The unique features of the presented sensor nodes are their high computational capability, multi-modality sensing, and combined ability for both active and passive sensing. These embedded computer-based sensor nodes include Linux operating system; integrate with C numerical libraries; embed a mobile agent-based network middleware; and provide web services at sensor node level. The software development of wireless sensor nodes utilises a two-layer approach. The open software architecture design of the upper layer promotes software reuse and speeds up the development cycle by employing available numerical algorithms in open software packages such as CLAPACK and Numerical Recipes in C. Several experimental tests are presented including accelerometer test using a scaled steel bridge, strain gauge measurement on a deflectometer, and relative humidity and temperature tests.