I-Corps: Smart Multi-Sensor Wireless Network System for Storm Load Monitoring

Florida Institute Of Technology, Melbourne FL

Investigators

Abstract

Hurricanes are among the most destructive and costliest of all natural disasters. As population continues to increase in coastal regions where the threat is highest, so does the possibility for greater disasters, as demonstrated by hurricanes Katrina, Ike, or Sandy. This risk can be devastating for entire communities, for the insurance industry, which ultimately must pay for a significant portion of the incurred losses, for local and state governments who have to struggle with the impact on their populations and economies, and for the nation as a whole. The implementation of affordable solutions to mitigate damage requires a quantification of the wind forces causing this destruction, and models that relate wind forces to the capacity of man-made structures to resist them. Full-scale measurements are required in order to calibrate and improve the models The proposed wireless multi-sensors network system has the capability of measuring pressure and temperature on a roof, collecting data (rate up to 1400 samples/s) and sending it to a server to process and publish on the web in nearly real-time. The focus of this proposal is to enhance the capabilities of prior innovation to characterize wind loads on full-scale residential structures during actual hurricanes. The deployment will leverage on the state-of-the-art in wireless sensors networks, cloud computing and social media to seamlessly manage and scale efficiently data streams as the velocity and volume of the source data grows unabated. In this proposal the team plans to add a smart data acquisition to the system which will allow faster data rates when the winds change fast and slower data rate when winds change slowly. This will help to avoid unnecessary data storage and economize the sensor duty cycle. The unique aspect of the system is it has not only the wireless and networking capabilities, but it also has several in-situ controls such as individual sensor remote control, self-negotiating communication, and excellent data throughput, precision, and accuracy; it is robust, reliable, and portable, and allows simultaneous deployment on multiple residences in case of a hurricane landfall.