Wireless Distributed Strain Sensing for Structural Health Monitoring (WISDOM)

Impact Technologies, with assistance from Illionix and oversight from Boeing and Lockheed Martin, proposes to develop an integrated, easily scalable, low-cost wireless, batteryless sensing network for enabling advanced structural health monitoring (SHM) of key components on DoD (and commercial) platforms. These include ships, submarines, and aircraft. The proposed system utilizes emerging “Computational RFID” (CRFID) technology to enable wireless sensing. Each sensor is an autonomous WISP-based (wireless identification and sensing platform) CRFID node that utilizes an extremely low powered microprocessor powered solely by RF power harvesting. Sensed health data is transmitted via backscatter using standard protocols to RFID reader nodes that interface with existing ship/aircraft systems in order to complete the data integration. Many unpowered sensors can be handled by a single reader node. In phase I, the project focuses on distributed strain sensing. However, the technology developed in phase I should be readily transferrable to other sensing needs for health monitoring, including corrosion, humidity and vibration. The three-phase program will result in an easily reconfigurable, continuous, and intelligent monitoring system that will help the Navy and OEMs reduce maintenance & inspection costs, improve readiness, and reduce the risks of unexpected structural failures.