Mobile Sensors in Bridge Health Monitoring

Abstract

This paper will address a main concern in using mobile sensor data for SHM. Mobile sensors can offer comprehensive data similar to a “maximum fixed sensor networks†while keeping the simplicity of “minimum fixed sensor networksâ€. However, the data is expected to have an undesirable incompleteness feature and would not be readily compatible with modern SHM algorithms, e.g. feature extraction, data compression, system identification, traffic monitoring, reliability analysis, etc. requiring an additional model to compensate for incomplete data. This data-collection technique calls for a means to move sensors over a vibrating bridge, which could be implemented in a number of different ways. One example includes a vehicle (with onboard sensors) traveling over the roadway of the bridge to scan its vibrations in space and time.