Remote monitoring of building structural integrity by a smart wireless sensor network

The present paper proposes a wireless sensor network in order to verify the building structural health by monitoring the vibration levels transmitted. In particular the network allows to assess if the vibration levels may cause damage to the building or if it needs further study. The vibration levels are compared with fixed thresholds suggested by studies and regulations. The attention has been focused on the reliability of measurement results and, for this purpose, two algorithms have been implemented. The first takes into account the measurement uncertainty of each sensor network node in order to verify the overcoming of fixed threshold through the use of appropriate decision-making rules. The second algorithm allows to detect possible faulty sensors in order to ensure suitable levels of reliability about the decisions taken on the basis of measurement data, of nearby sensors and of historical calibration information. The common sensor networks used for structural monitoring consist of wired data acquisition system; differently the proposed solution uses the ZigBee technology for wireless communication in order to improve the flexibility and capability of the network.