Test of FBG sensors for monitoring high pressure pipes

Fibre Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors are increasingly being used on a wide range of civil, industrial and aerospace structures. The sensors are created inside optical fibres (usually standard telecommunication fibres); the optical fibres technology allows to install the sensors on structures working in harsh environments, since the materials are almost insensitive to corrosion, the monitoring system can be positioned far away from the sensors without sensible signal losses, and there is no risk of electric discharge. FBG sensors can be used to create strain gages, thermometers or accelerometers, depending on the coating on the grating, on the way the grating is fixed to the structure, and on the presence of a specifically designed interface that can act as a transducer. This paper describes a test of several different FBG sensors to monitor an high pressure pipe that feeds the hydraulic actuators of a 6 degrees-of-freedom shaking table at the ENEA Casaccia research centre. A bare FBG sensor and a copper coated FBG sensor have been glued on the pipe. A third sensor has been mounted on a special interface to amplify the vibrations; this last sensor can be placed on the steel pipe by a magnetic mounting system, that also allows the its removal. All the sensor are placed parallel to the axis of the pipe. The analysis of the data recorded when the shaking table is operated will allow to determine which kind of sensor is best suited for structural monitoring of high pressure pipelines

Scenarios for Educational and Game Activities using Internet of Things Data

Raising awareness among young people and changing their behavior and habits concerning energy usage and the environment is key to achieving a sustainable planet. The goal to address the global climate problem requires informing the population on their roles in mitigation actions and adaptation of sustainable behaviors. Addressing climate change and achieve ambitious energy and climate targets requires a change in citizen behavior and consumption practices. IoT sensing and related scenario and practices, which address school children via discovery, gamification, and educational activities, are examined in this paper. Use of seawater sensors in STEM education, that has not previously been addressed, is included in these educational scenaria

CleAir monitoring system for particulate matter. A case in the Napoleonic Museum in Rome

Monitoring the air particulate concentration both outdoors and indoors is becoming a more relevant issue in the past few decades. An innovative, fully automatic, monitoring system called CleAir is presented. Such a system wants to go beyond the traditional technique (gravimetric analysis), allowing for a double monitoring approach: the traditional gravimetric analysis as well as the optical spectroscopic analysis of the scattering on the same filters in steady-state conditions. The experimental data are interpreted in terms of light percolation through highly scattering matter by means of the stretched exponential evolution. CleAir has been applied to investigate the daily distribution of particulate matter within the Napoleonic Museum in Rome as a test case

Adaptive data synchronization algorithm for IoT-oriented low-power wide-area networks

The Internet of Things (IoT) is by now very close to be realized, leading the world towards a new technological era where people’s lives and habits will be definitively revolutionized. Furthermore, the incoming 5G technology promises significant enhancements concerning the Quality of Service (QoS) in mobile communications. Having billions of devices simultaneously connected has opened new challenges about network management and data exchange rules that need to be tailored to the characteristics of the considered scenario. A large part of the IoT market is pointing to Low-Power Wide-Area Networks (LPWANs) representing the infrastructure for several applications having energy saving as a mandatory goal besides other aspects of QoS. In this context, we propose a low-power IoT-oriented file synchronization protocol that, by dynamically optimizing the amount of data to be transferred, limits the device level of interaction within the network, therefore extending the battery life. This protocol can be adopted with different Layer 2 technologies and provides energy savings at the IoT device level that can be exploited by different applications

Close Approaches of Debris to LARES Satellite During Its First Four Years of Operation

Since its launch in February 2012, the LAser RElativity Satellite (LARES) of the Italian Space Agency experienced four close approaches with space debris. LARES orbits at an altitude of 1450 km, in a region where the density of space debris has a peak. However, the probability of an impact with a debris during the operational life of the satellite was reasonably low. The analysis of the close approaches identified three of the objects, that are from two peculiar population of objects. This paper discusses the problem of space debris in low orbit, the approaches occurred with LARES, and some possible scenarios related to space regulations and space law in case of an impact

Ambient vibrations of age-old masonry towers: results of long-term dynamic monitoring in the historic centre of Lucca

The paper presents the results of an ambient vibration monitoring campaign conducted on so-called Clock Tower (Torre delle Ore), one the best known and most visited monuments in the historic centre of Lucca. The vibrations of the tower were continuously monitored from November 2017 to March 2018 using high-sensitivity instrumentation. In particular, four seismic stations provided by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia and two three-axial accelerometers developed by AGI S.r.l., spin-off of the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, were installed on the tower. The measured vibration level was generally very low, since the structure lies in the middle of a limited traffic area. Nevertheless, the availability of two different types of highly sensitive and accurate instruments allowed the authors to follow the dynamic behaviour of the tower during the entire monitoring period and has moreover provided cross-validation of the results

Crowded space: a review on radar measurements for space debris monitoring and tracking

Space debris monitoring is nowadays a priority for worldwide space agencies, due to the serious threat that these objects present. More and more efforts have been made to extend the network of available radar systems devoted to the control of space. A meticulous review has been done in this paper, in order to find and classify the considerable amounts of data provided by the scientific community that deal with RADAR measurement for the debris monitoring and tracking. The information gathered is organized based on the volume of found data and classified taking into account the geographical location of the facilities

Development of a new device for the measurement and modeling of an innovative risk index for cultural heritage application

The monitoring, as a function of time, of environmental parameters in cultural heritage is essential to preserve materials, to recognize the reasons of degradation and to evaluate their effects. The degrading effects of objects in cultural heritage field, can be classified in optical, morphological, physical-chemical/mechanical and alterations and depend by micro-climatic conditions. For this reason, in recent years, several solutions have been developed and commercialized for environmental monitoring, some compatible with general advice and others OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturing). However, the trend of application between compliant and non-ISO-compliant devices has not yet been sufficiently analyzed. In this first section, we show how in the last ten years researchers have shifted their attention to custom-made devices based on new generation sensors despite the expense of units ISO certified. The study based on a review of scientific articles has shown that: with the increase of low-cost and open-source technologies applied in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and in particular in the cultural heritage, led to a research advancement in the field, but, at the same time, increased non-homogeneity of the methods, impinging comparability of results. In recent years the trend is to use low-cost automatic wireless systems. This innovation, however, opens new scenarios and challenges on how to improve their stability, longevity, and sensitivity; reduce maintenance (battery replacement, including calibration or sensors); improve data analysis/management/display costs. In particular, it has highlighted the current difficulty of low-cost detectors to satisfy the robustness and reliability of regulatory and conventional stationary monitors at the expense of the periods and aesthetics. We have therefore paid particular attention to the sensitivity and reliability of the innovative solutions presented to overcome the traditional limitations, as well as to the real feasibility of solutions regarding sustainability, adaptability to the works of art or price. We also see the need for more communication between the scientific community and the decision-makers, who have only recently opened up to this paradigm. We highlighted the need to identify recurrent or innovative topics in the various documents concerning the approaches to preventive conservation, the preservation of damage and environmental management. After a review of state of the art regarding the different sampling device applied in cultural heritage and a survey of the parameters that involve a degradation effect on the materials, in this section, we focus our attention on a sensors-based prototype able to detect: (i) temperature and relative humidity; (ii) NO, NO2 and SO2; (iii) vibrations. In particular, this section describes the design and the validation of the Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) propose3, named WENDY, an acronym for Wireless Environmental moNitoring Device prototYpe. WENDY, built on a microcontroller of ATmega328P series, gathers signals from a sensor for temperature and relative humidity; a 9-axis MIMU; and three gas detection miniature boards (NO, NO2 and SO2). Complete the board a connector for memory card (SD) and an RTC. Additionally, a module based on the ZigBee standard could be used to transmit all data. In this section, precisely, we present the performances of the WSN node in detecting: structure tilt, vibrations and the daily cycle of humidity, temperature and gas deposition. The experimental setup used to evaluate the accuracy of MIMU system highlighted a relative error on shock acceleration measurement, in term of normalized root mean square error, lower than 0.1 % for the sinusoidal input and 0.51 % for cardinal sin input, with an average accuracy in the principal peak reconstruction of 1 % in the chosen frequency range (5 Hz to 50 Hz). The MIMU accuracy for tilt measurement, evaluated through the root mean square error was equal to 0.3° and a standard deviation always lower than 0.4° in the 0-90° tilt range. The gas detection and temperature/ humidity boards showed data comparable with the nearby certified ARPA system device. The aim of the applicative section is monitoring effects of different factors which affect the “Minerva Medica Temple,” an archeological site in Rome. In particular, we focus on: (i) the seasonal thermal variations on the structure; (ii) the contamination due to by local traffic regarding gaseous pollutant and (iii) the dynamic response of the structure to a tramway line located in Rome and called “Roma- Giardinetti.” The developed system allows for prioritization of intervention both for management and interventions planning, regarding restoration, consolidation, and conservation. Moreover, the software structure of the environmental monitoring device is presented and expounded in detail.4 Always in this section, an innovative procedure for the evaluation of the environmental hazard in cultural heritage is proposed. This risk assessment can be considered as a “relative risk assessment methodology.” In particular, it considers the impacts of microclimatic conditions on the monument, based on the international norms and the current scientific knowledge. For measurement campaigns with WENDY, the risk method proposed is applied to the results of two measurement campaigns carried out between 2017 and 2018 over two different periods (September-December and March-July), at “Minerva Medica Temple,” in Rome

Selected Papers from the 2018 IEEE International Workshop on Metrology for the Sea

This Special Issue is devoted to recent developments in instrumentation and measurement techniques applied to the marine field. ¶The sea is the medium that has allowed people to travel from one continent to another using vessels, even today despite the use of aircraft. It has also been acting as a great reservoir and source of food for all living beings. However, for many generations, it served as a landfill for depositing conventional and nuclear wastes, especially in its deep seabeds, and we are assisting in a race to exploit minerals and resources, different from foods, encompassed in it. Its health is a great challenge for the survival of all humanity since it is one of the most important environmental components targeted by global warming. ¶ As everyone may know, measuring is a step that generates substantial knowledge about a phenomenon or an asset, which is the basis for proposing correct solutions and making proper decisions. However, measurements in the sea environment pose unique difficulties and opportunities, which is made clear from the research results presented in this Special Issue

Crop Management with the IoT: an Interdisciplinary Survey

In this study we analyze how crop management is going to benefit from the Internet of Things providing an overview of its architecture and components from an agronomic and a technological perspective. The present analysis highlights that IoT is a mature enabling technology, with articulated hardware and software components. Cheap networked devices may sense crop fields at a finer grain, to give timeliness warnings on stress conditions and the presence of disease to a wider range of farmers. Cloud computing allows to reliably store and access heterogeneous data, developing and deploy farm services. From this study emerges that IoT is also going to increase attention to sensor quality and placement protocol, while Machine Learning should be oriented to produce understandable knowledge, which is also useful to enhance Cropping System Simulation systems