A Low-Cost, Multi-Functional Sensor Network System for Intelligent Vehicle Health Assessments

NASA is seeking innovative, multifunctional and lightweight approach to integrate long-duration structural health monitoring (SHM) capabilities for space habitat long-duration mission concepts. The enabling sensing technology and integration approach should not compromise the load-carrying capability or other structural design requirement. Sensing capabilities by fusing multiple sensors to predict and locate critical damage areas and probable failure zones are highly demanded. To address this critical need, X-wave Innovations, Inc. (XII) proposes to develop a low-cost, multi-functional sensor network system (MFSNS) for intelligent monitoring of critical aero- and space vehicle structures. For the Phase I program, we will prototype a MFSNS system and demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed technique for precursor/damage detection and long-duration structural health monitoring. For the Phase II program, XII will focus on refining the prototype system design and development with improved hardware and software. For the Phase III program, XII will focus on optimizing the MFSNS performance and packing the MFSNS technology into a turnkey commercially-available system.