Compact Embedded Wireless Sensor-Based Monitoring of Concrete Curing

Joaquín Cabezas; Trinidad Sánchez-Rodríguez; Juan Antonio Gómez-Galán; Héctor Cifuentes; Ramón González Carvajal

doi:10.3390/s18030876

Compact Embedded Wireless Sensor-Based Monitoring of Concrete Curing

Sensors (Basel). 2018 Mar 15;18(3):876. doi: 10.3390/s18030876.

Authors

Joaquín Cabezas¹, Trinidad Sánchez-Rodríguez², Juan Antonio Gómez-Galán³, Héctor Cifuentes⁴, Ramón González Carvajal⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Electronic Engineering, University of Seville, Camino de los Descubrimientos, s/n, E-41092 Seville, Spain. joaquin.cabezas@adevice.es.
² Department of Electronic Engineering, Computers and Automatic, University of Huelva, Ctra Huelva-La Rábida, s/n, 21819 Huelva, Spain. trinidad.sanchez@diesia.uhu.es.
³ Department of Electronic Engineering, Computers and Automatic, University of Huelva, Ctra Huelva-La Rábida, s/n, 21819 Huelva, Spain. jgalan@diesia.uhu.es.
⁴ Department of Continuum Mechanics and Structural Analysis, University of Seville, Camino de los Descubrimientos, s/n, E-41092 Seville, Spain. bulte@us.es.
⁵ Department of Electronic Engineering, University of Seville, Camino de los Descubrimientos, s/n, E-41092 Seville, Spain. carvajal@us.es.

Abstract

This work presents the design, construction and testing of a new embedded sensor system for monitoring concrete curing. A specific mote has been implemented to withstand the aggressive environment without affecting the measured variables. The system also includes a real-time monitoring application operating from a remote computer placed in a central location. The testing was done in two phases: the first in the laboratory, to validate the functional requirements of the developed devices; and the second on civil works to evaluate the functional features of the devices, such as range, robustness and flexibility. The devices were successfully implemented resulting in a low cost, highly reliable, compact and non-destructive solution.

Keywords: IEEE 802.15.4; concrete curing; embedded sensor; monitoring; wireless networks.