With the recent bridge collapse in Minnesota and mine collapse in Utah, the need to detect critical failures is necessary for public safety. Imagine authorities in Minnesota receiving real-time updates on each bridge and then correlating this data with periodic maintenance exams. Authorities can quickly react to any problems, dispatch crews to problem spots, and maintain a healthy infrastructure.

This notion is not infeasible or science fiction; Professor Kerop Janoyan at Clarkson University in New York is leading a project to monitor bridges in upstate New York using wireless sensors based on Moteiv's technology. He has designed a system that monitors acceleration and vibration in all dimensions, analyzes the data, transmits it wirelessly using Moteiv's Tmote Sky module. Strain gauges are also used; they can alert authorities of significant deformations in the bridge's structure that may lead to collapse. Strain gauges are also commonly used to monitor the integrity of pillars in mines to detect the possibility of collapse before such an event occurs. (Gory details about strain gauges and how they work are available at wikipedia).

An article on the system appears online at EETimes and Professor Janoyan's webpage includes an overview of the system. An older article was written and published by Clarkson University.

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