Concept, design and prototyping of compact sensor nodes using electromechanical impedance and broad band acousto-ultrasonic method for structural health monitoring

In the course of the project, compact sized, rugged network enabled sensor nodes for monitoring structural health using:

• Electro mechanical impedance method (EMI) and
• Broadband acousto ultrasonic method (AU-BB)

were designed (embedded hard- and software) and prototypes manufactured. A cost-efficient but still failure tolerant network interface enabled the sensor node to operate in a heterogeneous multi-sensor environment keeping wiring complexity and thus weight and cost low. The approach respected the high level of EMC that is required in aviation. A first processing of the sensor signal took place on the node to significantly reduce network load and keep necessary performance of a data collecting master node low. A dedicated software framework enabled the insertion of automatically generated code.