Team members:
- Sarah Ditlevson
- Erez Falkenstein
- Anthony McDougle
- Nathan Sutton
Our team will design a wirelessly powered sensing device that can be embedded in concrete. There will be a base station unit that transmits power, and communicates with the sensor. At the device location there will be two antennas, one for RF power reception, and one for communication. We need to ensure that our sensors are reliable for an extended period of time as they will be embedded in concrete, which limits accessibility.
We have an expectation of incorporating one sensor type, and communication with a single sensor. A combined temperature and humidity sensor as well as an accelerometer have been chosen as the first types of sensors that we will use. A microcontroller will be used to communicate and control the sensor. Power considerations are paramount for all parts in our design as we are attempting to use wireless power. A base station will be designed to provide the wireless power and bi-directional communication. The base station does not have low power requirements, as it will be powered from grid power.
Once basic operation as described above has been established, we hope to expand our design in several respects. Research into strain/sheer force, displacement, and/or chemical concentration sensors is ongoing. We hope to use a variety of sensor types. We also hope to enable communication with multiple sensors. Our current design also has separate antennas for power and communication, and exploration into a single antenna for both will be done as time permits.