Multi-objective sensor placement using the effective independence model (SPEM) for wireless sensor networks in structural health monitoring

This paper studies the optimal placement problem in structural health monitoring (SHM) using wireless sensor networks (WSN). This problem is formulated as a refined multi-objective optimization problem with various constraints of connectivity and flow conservation conditions, while minimizing the energy consumption and maximizing the information quality are the objectives. To perform the multi-objective optimization, we modify the heuristic single objective power-aware sensor placement using the effective independence model (p-SPEM) algorithm introduced in [1]. In this paper, we design and analyze a multi-objective p-SPEM (mop-SPEM) algorithm for sensor node placement. The multi-objective formulation adds more flexibility because the energy consumption and the information quality can be easily traded-off. The mop-SPEM is simulated and compared with p-SPEM for a nine-storey building. Results show that mop-SPEM is able to trade-off the energy with the information quality by adjusting the relative weights of the objective functions.