A Mobile-Agent Based Wireless Sensing Network for Structural Monitoring Applications

A new wireless sensing network paradigm is presented for structural monitoring applications. In this approach, both power and data interrogation commands are conveyed via a mobile-agent that is sent to sensor nodes to perform intended interrogations, which can alleviate several limitations of the traditional sensing networks. Furthermore, the mobile-agent provides computation power to make near real-time assessments on the structural conditions. This paper will discuss such prototype systems, which are used to interrogate impedance-based sensors for structural health monitoring applications. The wireless sensor node is specifically designed to accept various energy sources, including wireless energy transmission, and to be wirelessly triggered on an as-needed basis by the mobile-agent or other sensor nodes.