Date of Award

2009-01-01

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Computer Engineering

Advisor(s)

Eric MacDonald

Abstract

With the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, government officials recognized the need to implement automated methods that reduce the cost of assessment projects and provide a long-term solution to monitor the structural health of bridges and highways. Although important research exists in the area of non-destructive evaluation, current road health monitoring efforts continue to be costly and time consuming. This Thesis focuses on the characterization of a MEMS accelerometer intended to be the basis of a novel ultra-low power sensing system to remotely asses the condition of highways. The architecture of a sensor prototype built to validate an algorithm to obtain displacement figures from acceleration data is described. Results show that the sensor prototype successfully produces figures proportional to displacement at frequencies between 5 and 30 Hz. The layout of an AISC is presented as an ultra-low power alternative to components currently used in the design of wireless sensors.

Language

en

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Size

91 pages

File Format

application/pdf

Rights Holder

Karla Cecilia Enriquez

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