Distributed Wi-Fi-Based System for Monitoring the Condition of Building Structures.

Area of Science:

• Engineering
• Computer Science
• Materials Science

Background:

• Structural health monitoring (SHM) traditionally relies on wired systems, limiting deployment flexibility.
• Existing wireless solutions often face challenges with reliability, data loss, and scalability.
• There is a need for robust, infrastructure-free wireless monitoring solutions for buildings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a Wi-Fi-based distributed system for structural health monitoring.
• To implement a hybrid mesh/ad hoc network architecture for autonomous sensor communication.
• To integrate diverse sensors for comprehensive structural and environmental data acquisition.

Main Methods:

• Developed a hybrid mesh/ad hoc network architecture using IEEE 802.11 for wireless sensor communication.
• Designed a data transmission algorithm and a multi-sensor platform (distance, magnetometric, environmental sensors).
• Established a mathematical network model to analyze communication reliability and validated through 500 experimental measurements.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated reliable wireless communication without data loss, preserving signal temporal characteristics.
• Distance and temperature sensors showed high agreement with wired references (MAE, RMSE).
• Magnetometric and humidity sensors exhibited moderate variability due to sensitivity and transmission conditions.

Conclusions:

• The proposed Wi-Fi-based distributed architecture offers a stable, scalable, and fault-tolerant SHM solution.
• The system is adaptable for environmental monitoring, energy systems, and smart infrastructure.
• Wireless sensor networks provide a viable alternative to wired infrastructure for SHM.