Wireless body area sensor networks signal processing and communication framework: Survey on sensing, communication technologies, delivery and feedback

Problem statement: The Wireless Body Area Sensor Networks (WBASNs) is a wireless network used for communication among sensor nodes operating on or inside the human body in order to monitor vital body parameters and movements.This study surveys the state-of-the-art on Wireless Body Area Networks, discussing the major components of research in this area including physiological sensing and preprocessing, WBASNs communication techniques and data fusion for gathering data from sensors.In addition, data analysis and feedback will be presented including feature extraction, detection and classification of human related phenomena.Approach: Comparative studies of the technologies and techniques used in such systems will be provided in this study, using qualitative comparisons and use case analysis to give insight on potential uses for different techniques.Results and Conclusion: Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) technologies are considered as one of the key of the research areas in computer science and healthcare application industries.Sensor supply chain and communication technologies used within the system and power consumption therein, depend largely on the use case and the characteristics of the application.Authors conclude that Life-saving applications and thorough studies and tests should be conducted before WBANs can be widely applied to humans, particularly to address the challenges related to robust techniques for detection and classification to increase the accuracy and hence the confidence of applying such techniques without physician intervention

In-situ health monitoring for wind turbine blade using acoustic wireless sensor networks at low sampling rates

PhD ThesisThe development of in-situ structural health monitoring (SHM) techniques represents a challenge for offshore wind turbines (OWTs) in order to reduce the cost of the operation and maintenance (O&M) of safety-critical components and systems. This thesis propos- es an in-situ wireless SHM system based on acoustic emission (AE) techniques. The proposed wireless system of AE sensor networks is not without its own challenges amongst which are requirements of high sampling rates, limitations in the communication bandwidth, memory space, and power resources. This work is part of the HEMOW- FP7 Project, ‘The Health Monitoring of Offshore Wind Farms’. The present study investigates solutions relevant to the abovementioned challenges. Two related topics have been considered: to implement a novel in-situ wireless SHM technique for wind turbine blades (WTBs); and to develop an appropriate signal pro- cessing algorithm to detect, localise, and classify different AE events. The major contri- butions of this study can be summarised as follows: 1) investigating the possibility of employing low sampling rates lower than the Nyquist rate in the data acquisition opera- tion and content-based feature (envelope and time-frequency data analysis) for data analysis; 2) proposing techniques to overcome drawbacks associated with lowering sampling rates, such as information loss and low spatial resolution; 3) showing that the time-frequency domain is an effective domain for analysing the aliased signals, and an envelope-based wavelet transform cross-correlation algorithm, developed in the course of this study, can enhance the estimation accuracy of wireless acoustic source localisa- tion; 4) investigating the implementation of a novel in-situ wireless SHM technique with field deployment on the WTB structure, and developing a constraint model and approaches for localisation of AE sources and environmental monitoring respectively. Finally, the system has been experimentally evaluated with the consideration of the lo- calisation and classification of different AE events as well as changes of environmental conditions. The study concludes that the in-situ wireless SHM platform developed in the course of this research represents a promising technique for reliable SHM for OWTBs in which solutions for major challenges, e.g., employing low sampling rates lower than the Nyquist rate in the acquisition operation and resource constraints of WSNs in terms of communication bandwidth and memory space are presente

Strengthening of prism beam by using NSM technique with roots planted in concrete

This paper presents experimental results of four prismatic concrete reinforced beam and strengthened by NSM (Near surface mounted) FRP (Fiber Reinforced Polymer) reinforced technique, with additional roots planted in the concrete. The strengthening technique causes load capacity of beams to increase from (6%-8%).A decrease in mid-span deflection was also observed from (4%-5%).Using this technique gave increasing in flexural beam resistant under the same conditions and this increasing was also noted in shear beam resistant

A cyber-physical system for smart healthcare

Abstract: The increasing number of patients in hospitals is becoming a serious concern in most countries owing to the significantly associated implications for resources such as staff and budget shortages. This problem has prompted researchers to investigate low-cost alternative systems that may assist medical staff with monitoring and caring for patients. In view of the recent widespread availability of cost-effective internet of things (IoT) technologies such as ZigBee, WiFi and sensors integrated into cyber-physical systems, there is the potential for deployment as different topologies in applications such as patient diagnoses and remote patient monitoring...M.Tech. (Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technology

Wireless Monitoring Systems for Long-Term Reliability Assessment of Bridge Structures based on Compressed Sensing and Data-Driven Interrogation Methods.

The state of the nation’s highway bridges has garnered significant public attention due to large inventories of aging assets and insufficient funds for repair. Current management methods are based on visual inspections that have many known limitations including reliance on surface evidence of deterioration and subjectivity introduced by trained inspectors. To address the limitations of current inspection practice, structural health monitoring (SHM) systems can be used to provide quantitative measures of structural behavior and an objective basis for condition assessment. SHM systems are intended to be a cost effective monitoring technology that also automates the processing of data to characterize damage and provide decision information to asset managers. Unfortunately, this realization of SHM systems does not currently exist. In order for SHM to be realized as a decision support tool for bridge owners engaged in performance- and risk-based asset management, technological hurdles must still be overcome. This thesis focuses on advancing wireless SHM systems. An innovative wireless monitoring system was designed for permanent deployment on bridges in cold northern climates which pose an added challenge as the potential for solar harvesting is reduced and battery charging is slowed. First, efforts advancing energy efficient usage strategies for WSNs were made. With WSN energy consumption proportional to the amount of data transmitted, data reduction strategies are prioritized. A novel data compression paradigm termed compressed sensing is advanced for embedment in a wireless sensor microcontroller. In addition, fatigue monitoring algorithms are embedded for local data processing leading to dramatic data reductions. In the second part of the thesis, a radical top-down design strategy (in contrast to global vibration strategies) for a monitoring system is explored to target specific damage concerns of bridge owners. Data-driven algorithmic approaches are created for statistical performance characterization of long-term bridge response. Statistical process control and reliability index monitoring are advanced as a scalable and autonomous means of transforming data into information relevant to bridge risk management. Validation of the wireless monitoring system architecture is made using the Telegraph Road Bridge (Monroe, Michigan), a multi-girder short-span highway bridge that represents a major fraction of the U.S. national inventory.PhDCivil EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/116749/1/ocosean_1.pd

Hardware-software design of embedded systems for intelligent sensing applications

This Thesis wants to highlight the importance of ad-hoc designed and developed embedded systems in the implementation of intelligent sensor networks. As evidence four areas of application are presented: Precision Agriculture, Bioengineering, Automotive and Structural Health Monitoring. For each field is reported one, or more, smart device design and developing, in addition to on-board elaborations, experimental validation and in field tests. In particular, it is presented the design and development of a fruit meter. In the bioengineering field, three different projects are reported, detailing the architectures implemented and the validation tests conducted. Two prototype realizations of an inner temperature measurement system in electric motors for an automotive application are then discussed. Lastly, the HW/SW design of a Smart Sensor Network is analyzed: the network features on-board data management and processing, integration in an IoT toolchain, Wireless Sensor Network developments and an AI framework for vibration-based structural assessment

Intelligent Sensor Networks

In the last decade, wireless or wired sensor networks have attracted much attention. However, most designs target general sensor network issues including protocol stack (routing, MAC, etc.) and security issues. This book focuses on the close integration of sensing, networking, and smart signal processing via machine learning. Based on their world-class research, the authors present the fundamentals of intelligent sensor networks. They cover sensing and sampling, distributed signal processing, and intelligent signal learning. In addition, they present cutting-edge research results from leading experts