Cloud Structural Bridge Health Monitoring
A bridge is a critical example of civil infrastructure, and America’s bridges collectively see millions of people commute to work and for other reasons daily. As large and complex structures, monitoring the structural health of bridges can be difficult, especially given the scale and dangers involved. However, advancements within cloud technology mean that this traditionally precarious task can now be delegated entirely to computer systems.
Compliance and compatibility issues are now a thing of the past
As more and more aspects of device function are delegated to the cloud, we’ve now arrived at systems capable of being hardware-agnostic. That means you can choose from any of the myriads of third party sensors and data loggers available since modern cloud solutions support almost all of them. Not only that, but if you’re developing in-house, you could even choose aspects of your surrounding software ecosystem without too much trial and error. If you ever feel like swapping out an individual component, you won’t have to face complicated issues with compatibility.
Complex measurements such as displacement, static strain, acceleration, and inclination, can now be calculated without the need for proprietary sensors. But what makes this all the more impressive is that it can be done in real-time.
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EtherCAT and rugged network hardware | Making synchronization possible in an inhospitable environment
EtherCAT (Ethernet for Control Automation Technology) is an Ethernet-based communications protocol that allows shorter updates. In simple terms, EtherCAT ensures a one-directional outflow of packets, which is quicker than Ethernet, which routes packets individually based on where they are needed. This speeds up communication and allows for distributed clocks to be implemented via EtherCAT. Allowing all nodes on a geographically distributed system to synchronize, given that the distance between two individual nodes is not too large (while exact figures may vary depending on the hardware in place, you can ensure sub-microsecond accuracy within an EtherCAT chain with node to node distances of 100m or lower).
A distributed clock functions by comparing the internal clocks of concurrent nodes to each other, finally to a reference clock defined within the master. The master then corrects the error and sets the first node in the network as the reference clock, thereby minimizing jitter.
Since bridges can be extremely long, complicated structures, synchronized readings become the crux of remote bridge health monitoring. The EtherCAT standard, due to its speed and minimal network hardware requirements, helps you keep time across a 50 km long bridge, for example, which would not have been possible otherwise.
Rugged network hardware is also a must since EtherCAT works on a ring topology, and the failure of a single node threatens the entire network. Cables that can function at extreme temperatures (between -40 C and 85 C) while also being shock, dust and waterproof can meet the need for robust hardware that can survive in the harshest of conditions.
Real-time Modal Analysis
Modal Analysis allows you to use the readings from your sensors and knowledge of a bridge’s architectural structure to calculate natural frequencies, damping ratios, and other important factors and use them to create a 3D bridge model on which to run predictive software and experiments. These structures can be used to simulate the way a building responds to controlled explosions or impact, letting you know what you should and shouldn’t do during maintenance. Not only does this alleviate risk, it also improves efficiency.
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Tying everything together | A cloud solution that can receive and interpret immense volumes of raw data
All of the discussed hardware and software developments rely on a ‘back-end’ that can handle the sheer volume of data generated by a network of sensors and analyze it to extract meaningful inferences. If you adopt a detail-oriented approach to your solution, you can develop one that can scale to meet needs for processing power that may arise in the future.
You have other considerations as well. Your inference engine, choice of historical data storage, modal analysis tool, and many other peripheral choices can be tweaked as per your needs, so long as your architecture allows for it.
Why Choose Cloud Computing Technologies when you’re on the hunt for Civil and Government Contracts
Building the right cloud architecture, and picking the right components for roles within that architecture, is a job best left to the experts. Cloud Computing Technologies has been developing cloud and compliance solutions for civil engineering applications for a while now, and we’ve discussed Structural Health Monitoring (SHM), and its cloud-friendliness before.
As a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), we’re given preference when competing for contracts within the public sector. Not only do we have an edge when it comes to landing those highly sought after contracts, but we also have an edge when it comes to getting you across the finish line. With a team of long-serving experts in the cloud services domain, we’re confident that we can deliver well-engineered, fault-tolerant cloud structural bridge health monitoring solution that’ll keep you running for years to come.
If you’d like to know more about the services we offer and discuss what we could do to help you in the pursuit of your business goals, click here to schedule a meeting or get in touch.
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