Memscon - Radio frequency identification tags linked to on board micro-electro-mechanical systems in a wireless, remote and intelligent monitoring and assessment system for the maintainance of constructed facilities.  
Home2012 WorkshopProjectTechnology2010 WorkshopNewsResultsPartnersLinksContact us
Radio frequency identification tags linked to on board micro-electro-mechanical systems in a wireless, remote and intelligent monitoring and assessment system for the maintainance of constructed facilities.
 
 

Release of the sixth MEMSCON Newsletter

Release of the fifth MEMSCON Newsletter

Release of the fourth MEMSCON Newsletter


MEMSCON Facts

Contract No: 036887 

Project total cost:  4.632.430

EC contribution: 3.814.816

Project Start Date: 1/10/2008

Duration: 36 Months

Coordinator: Institute of Communication and Computer Systems (ICCS), Athens, Greece

Instrument: Specific Targeted Research Project

No of partners: 12

 

  You are here: Homepage »

MEMSCON ATHENS WORKSHOP

Towards Intelligent Civil Infrastructure

March 29, 2012, Athens, Greece

ATHENIAN CAPITOL

The registration to the conference is free of charge. Organizational costs are covered by the MEMSCON project.

 

Registration period has expired.

Please provide us with the following information: 

Name:
Surname:
Institution:
Address:
Country:
Tel.:
Fax:
E-mail:
 

Contact Information:

Phone Number: +302107721663

Fax Number: +302107722291

 

 


D5.1 Plan for the dissemination and use of results-Final

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This document illustrates the dissemination strategy, introduces and lists the dissemination means and results, and reports the exploitation plan of MEMSCON project. The dissemination plan and report was arranged in order to assist the effective use of resources allocated to the dissemination task and demonstrate its achievement. This includes the maximizing of the effort to advertise the project’s results and research findings to the public so that the project achieves a real impact in the community. The plan aims to provide: the objectives and the strategy for dissemination; a general procedure for the dissemination, including instructions and limitations; a report of the achievements of the dissemination up to now and a prevision per each year of the project duration. During the project MEMSCON consortium regularly presents papers and publications to various national and international events. Generally the added value of each event is priory examined, making sure each time that the maximum amount of audience belonging to the target groups already specified will be reached. This is achieved through project presentations not only to European located international events but also to conferences in the United States and congresses at the international level. The above events will be complemented with publications in international journals. At the same time extensive care of the MEMSCON website through continuous updates aims at maintaining the interest of both experts and end users, while regular newsletters have been sent to the User Forum members. Dissemination material has been produced, including posters and leaflets. Finally, the outcomes of the project are presented in two international workshops specifically dedicated to the project and organized by members of the consortium.

As far as the exploitation aspects are concerned, the output of MEMSCON is a full system in an integrated package, which is composed of multiple bricks developed by numerous partners and working together to provide the appropriate functionality. In this present report, in terms of use of the MEMSCON results, we present:

  • the IPR agreements between partners and the various patents filled,
  • the main plans for the exploitation of the results of the MEMSCON project which include market analyses for the different components that are used within our system,
  • some of the dissemination activities which are linked to this exploitation plan,
  • as well as the additional effords that are required to industrialize the system.

Overall, the system maturity is closely linked to the maturity of the various elements that make it.

...read more

D3.4 Recommendations for integrating MEMS sensors in r.c. structures

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

This report includes recommendations for integrating the Memscon sensors in reinforced concrete structures and increasing the whole Memscon system capabilities. Recommendations are based on experience with Memscon system during laboratory validation of all prototypes.

...read more

D2.4 The DSS System Guide and Manual

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The MEMSCON Decision-Support-Syatem (DSS) is designed to help you evaluate the damage and decide on proactive rehabilitation and rehabilitation after an earthquake event in reinforced concrete buildings.Additionally, this DSS determines the structural condition of a building in predetermined time intervals of 4 months and after an earthquake and includes:

    A ‘Condition Assessment Based on Strain Measurements’ module  that receives input every 4 months from strain sensors positioned at the bottom cross sections of the columns of the ground floor and processes it to derive the internal forces which are compared to limit values in order to determine the structural adequacy of the monitored cross-sections. The internal forces are used to determine the differential displacements of the foundation nodes and the active live load. Based on these, the global structural condition of the building and the possible need for proactive maintenance is determined.
    A ‘Condition Assessment Based on Acceleration Measurements’ module that receives input from the acceleration sensors during an earthquake and processes it to estimate: the maximum differential displacements between consecutive floors derived after double integration in respect to time of the monitored acceleration time history that is compared to the maximum design elastic displacements; the resulting internal forces; damage and possible need for rehabilitation.
    A ‘Rehabilitation Options and Costs’ Module that receives input from the above modules to select the best intervention.
    An Expert System for the integration of different modules with a flexible user interface.
    A knowledge base that contains domain and system knowledge, a sensor DB, a history DB that includes unit models of all building elements together with their initial design values and records on problems and solutions, an external data DB that includes data on rehabilitation costs.

You can use MEMSCON DSS to invoke all modules as required and see all necessary data (input, output) displayed. You will be able to estimate the present structural condition of the building and building components and to experiment with scenarios in order to estimate the possible structural condition of the building and building components based on the input of the scenario. Moreover, you will be able to see what are the strains in the various monitored sections, what was the history of accelerations during an earthquake , what is the structural condition of the building and building components after an earthquake, what is the optimal building intervention under operating loads, what would be the optimal building intervention after an earthquake.

The present document is the System Guide and User Manual for the developed MEMSCON DSS.

The major sections of the User’s Manual are:

    General Information

The general purpose of the overall system and contact information are presented.

    System Summary

A general overview of the system is provided to outline its uses.

    Getting Started

This section presents the installation process and an overview of the features and tools.

    A Building Example

A walkthrough of the system from initiation through exit is provided by an example case.

    Rehabilitation Module

This section is a detailed presentation of the rehabilitation module.

...read more

D6.4 Proceedings workshop Bucharest

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY   

This document presents the  efforts of SITEX 45 SRL partner and consortium to disseminate the project results to the national, and European   scientific community, as well as to the Balkan market, focusing on a market oriented approach, to end-users, building structural rehabilitation contractors, rehabilitation engineers, companies offering structural monitoring services, companies in r.c. building construction, companies in building facilities management, owners of r.c. buildings, the Building Maintenance Departments of national and  international federal government, representatives of relevant associations, consortia, organizations and societies, insurers, standardization bodies, public safety officials in construction. The 1st Workshop of MEMSCON project was entitled”Structural Monitoring and Status-Dependent Maintenance and Repair of Constructed Facilities”. The event was organized in Bucharest by SITEX 45 SRL, local organizer on 7th Oct 2010, at World Trade Centre WTC/ Pullman Hotels & Resorts. The event was jointly organised with other parallel events hosted by ROMEXPO Exhibition and Congresses Centre as National Exhibition of Research, INVENTIKA 2010 and Technical International Fair TIB 2010. MEMSCON 1st Workshop included a total number of 22 papers with 20 regular papers of authors coming from all around Europe (Belgium, Holland, France, Greece, Italy, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Romania and so on), 3 invited key-notes from Romania, Greece Belgium and keynote speech from USA. The quality of papers accepted for presentation as well publication in the Proceedings was guaranteed by the exigent selection made by members of the S/T Committee and of the International Advisory Committee. The workshop agenda covered a full day event consisting of 4 sessions, with one opening session, three specialised sessions and a closing session. The very fruitful cooperation of local organizer with its co-organizer and event partners as well national and international organising committees, created the need for support for a specialised dissemination event at international level. The project results as well the workshop works, were followed with great interest by a large audience of 60 participants, of more of 82 preliminary registered, covering all domains of interest for academia, research institutions and industrial end users of which half were nationals .The very interesting contributions and presentations were further elaborated by more questions addressed to speakers / authors as well as usefully information exchanges by bilateral discussions performed. The exhibition, including specialised products of the application field gave a workshop dimension of reference in European events under the field of structural health monitoring applications by wireless sensors networks.

...read more

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The present report describes the work activities related to the Task 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 and 2.4 of the Work Package 2 (Development of the DSS for Proactive Rehabilitation and Rehabilitation Following Seismic Damage). More over it describes the context of the final version of the prototype of the DSS.

The tasks include the Design and Implementation of the Expert System, the Data and Knowledge Base and the Data Manager as well as the testing of functionalities of the modules and of results, on the basis of the architecture developed in Task 2.4.2.1 (“Requirements and specifications”).

During the design and implementation stages the following activities have been performed:

1)      detailed analysis of the internal structure of each module, including interrelations between sub-modules and intermediate results;

2)      definition of the data dictionary including parameters and variables considered in the calculation module developing  in WP1;

3)      design and implementation of the User Interface based on the requirements reported at Task 2.4.2.1

4)      After the implementation, the System was tested by developers and engineers.

Testing activities included functional tests in terms of data loading and modification, visual analysis of the developed frames and check of visibility of the results in graphic form as well as the analysis of the correctness of the Module’s results which include the following tasks:

·         System tests,

·         Unit tests

·         Integration tests

 

The testing activities were followed by the refinement and the technical verification of the Expert System and the Data and Knowledge Bases.

After the analysis of these tasks’ results we believe that the work has been satisfactorily accomplished, as all the initial objectives are fulfilled. The experience from the test and the feedback received lead to the conclusion that the Prototype of the DSS as the outcome of this deliverable is a powerful and highly competitive tool which ensures the realization of the final DSS.


D3.2 - Tests on full-scale column specimens

Executive Summary 

 

This report illustrates the design, development and results of tests on full-scale reinforced concrete columns to validate, in the laboratory, deformation sensors denominated “Phase-I prototypes”. These sensors are integrated in wireless nodes produced by ICCS, AMS and SITEX.

The scope of this experimental campaign is to extend the results of tests on reduced scale specimens (described in deliverable 3.1) to a more complex and realistic environment that can simulate the behavior of a real column in a building, up to an extreme scenario. During settlement and, more often, during an earthquake, columns can undergo extensive damage including concrete cracking, cover spalling, crushing and reinforcement yield. As we use the wireless network to estimate the damage level during or after these events, we must investigate the network performance and efficiency under the same conditions.

This report describes the design concept of the Reinforced Concrete (RC) specimens, their construction and instrumentation, the test protocol, the results and consequent observations.

The tests show that the sensors work correctly, with a precision of approximately 50me, which is adequate for many applications. A problem remains, that of the reduced range of measurable deformation (±4000me), which depends on the commercial sensor used, independently of the wireless acquisition.

Further, the campaign has quantified the importance of shear deformation in seismic damage, comparing this with effects due to bending. This is important for calibration of the damage interpretation model, which is the object of development in work package 2.

...read more

D3.1 - Laboratory evaluation of strain sensors

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This deliverable presents the result of the laboratory validation carried out on MEMSCON sensors and consists of two separate parts: part 1 concerns with accelerometers and part 2 with strain sensors. For each type of sensor, two different prototypes had been tested. Phase I prototypes were produced using commercial components that may not fulfill all the project specifications; Phase II.1 prototypes incorporate the first version of MEMS sensors developed within this project. Accelerometers have been tested mounting them back to back with reference sensors on a shaking table. Two types of excitations have been performed: harmonic excitation tests to verify the sensitivity and the linearity of the individual sensors; earthquake-like simulation to simulate operating condition of the wireless sensor network. The test highlighted that data transmission is reliable and that the wake up procedure effective. Accuracy of Phase I accelerometer is of the order of 20 mg which is comparable with the nominal resolution of the commercial device adopted, yet not enough to fulfil the project specifications (2 mg accuracy and 200 Hz sampling frequency). Phase II.1 sensors fulfil the project requirements in terms of resolution and sampling frequency, whereas the accuracy specification is not yet satisfied. Validation tests on strain sensors include tensile tests on bare bars and tensile/compressive tests on reinforced concrete specimens. Tests highlighted that the strain capacity of commercial sensors used in Phase I prototypes is limited to 0.3-0.5%. This limitation have been overcame with a new gluing procedure implemented for Phase II.1 sensors.

...read more

D6.3 - Plan for the dissemination and use of the results First version

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Within this document a dissemination plan and report is arranged in order to assist the effective use of resources allocated to the dissemination task and demonstrate its achievement up to now.

The dissemination plan for the whole duration of the project until its end is here presented. This includes the maximizing of the effort to advertise the project’s results and research findings to the public so that the project achieves a real impact in the community.

The plan aims to provide:

- the objectives and the strategy for dissemination;

- a general procedure for the dissemination, including instructions and

limitations;

- a report of the achievements of the dissemination up to now and a prevision per each year of the project duration.

During the first part of the project the dissemination activities has been focused on spreading the concepts and ideas behind the project’s research activities. MEMSCON consortium regularly presents papers and publications to various national and international events as described in this report. Generally the added value of each event is priory examined, making sure each time that the maximum amount of audience belonging to the target groups already specified will be reached. This is and will be achieved through project presentations not only to European located international events but also to conferences in the United States and congresses at international level. The above events will be complemented with publications to major high impact conferences and also, in the future, to international journals.

At the same time extensive care of the MEMSCON website through continuous updates will aim in maintaining the interest of both experts and end users, while regular newsletters are sent to the User Forum members. Dissemination material has already been produced in the first part of the project, and this activity will be extended in the following period.

Finally, the outcomes of the project will be presented in two international workshops specifically dedicated to the project and organized by members of the consortium.

...read more

D1.11 - ASIC characterization report

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

 

The present document describes the characterization of the ASIC readout for the accelerometer and strain sensors. It shows the measurements done on the ASIC so to obtain the parameters required by the specifications given at the beginning of the project.

 

The results shown were measured with equipment that is not necessarily the optimum one to perform exhaustive measurements, nevertheless the basic parameters were extracted and it remains still some extra information to be added that requires redesign of the PCB used for the measurements as well as laboratory equipment to include temperature variations.

 

...read more

D1.10 - ASIC design report and test plan

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The present document is a companion to the tape-out file created for the fabrication of the ASIC readout.  Its purpose is to describe the major steps taken in the fabrication of the ASIC and point out problems and solutions encountered and proposed respectively towards a successful submission for fabrication. Details of the functionality of the chip and expected waveforms are given in a separate document (Test-Plan) required by Deliverable 1.9 task 1.4.3.

...read more

D1.7 - report on phase II sensor modules

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

 

This deliverable report is attached to the demonstrator deliverable 1.7, as a result of task 1.4. It describes the MEMSCON phase II sensor modules and how to use them.

...read more

D1.6 Tape-out

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The present document describes is a companion to the tapeout file created for the fabrication of the ASIC readout.

Its purpose is to describe the major steps taken in the fabrication of the ASIC and point out problems and solutions encountered and proposed respectively towards a successful submission for fabrication. Details of the functionality of the chip and expected waveforms are given in a separate document (Test-Plan) required by Deliverable 1.9 task 1.4.3.

The present document also describes extra functionality added to the ASIC in view of the expected working conditions of the ASIC, namely ESD events.

...read more

MEMSCON ATHENS WORKSHOP

Towards Intelligent Civil Infrastructure

March 29, 2012, Athens, Greece

ATHENIAN CAPITOL

The registration to the conference is free of charge. Organizational costs are covered by the MEMSCON project.

 

Registration was not successful.

Please provide us with the following information: 

Name:
Surname:
Institution:
Address:
Country:
Tel.:
Fax:
E-mail:
 

Contact Information:

Phone Number: +302107721663

Fax Number: +302107722291

 


MEMSCON ATHENS WORKSHOP

Towards Intelligent Civil Infrastructure

March 29, 2012, Athens, Greece

ATHENIAN CAPITOL

The registration to the conference is free of charge. Organizational costs are covered by the MEMSCON project.

Registration successful.

Contact Information:

Phone Number: +302107721663

Fax Number: +302107722291

 


MEMSCON Workshop 2012 - Invitation


 

Workshop

Towards Intelligent Civil Infrastructure

 Athenian Capitol Mall, Athens, Greece

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Radical developments in telecommunications and sensor technologies are about to change the way that civil engineering design and infrastructure maintenance are conceived and carried out. Indeed, within the next ten years smart structural elements with embedded sensors and systems capable of self-diagnosis will be a normal part of civil infrastructure. These elements will be permanently connected to a distributed management network so that owners, users, and in general, all those involved in the production/management process - connected via the Internet - can check element conditions during production, transport, installation and operation.

Of special importance is the monitoring of civil infrastructure during an earthquake. During such an event structures may exceed their functional or structural limits and this can be visible. On the other hand, they can also suffer enormous damage to their capacity without producing any apparent visible signs. Such damage can result in life threatening conditions evolving in the structure long after the earthquake has happened. Monitoring systems can provide a quick and accurate estimate of the level of seismic damage that can be used to indicate loss of function and a quick and reliable assessment of the capacity of the structure to survive expected aftershocks.

The goal of this workshop is to provide a state-of-the-art report on recent research activities, technological utilisation and commercialisation activities in structural monitoring systems and software for the status-dependent maintenance and repair of constructed facilities.

This event, which is organized by the partners in the EC funded project MEMSCON, will bring together the Structural Health Monitoring community, European construction companies, owners of constructed facilities, insurance companies, policy makers and sector experts.

 

Keynote Speakers

Ø  Prof. James Brownjohn, University of Sheffield, UK 

Ø  Prof. Branko Glisic, Princeton University, USA  

Ø  Prof. Christian Grosse, TU Munich, Germany

Ø  Prof. Jerome P. Lynch University of Michigan, USA

Ø  Prof. Kenichi Soga, University of Cambridge, UK

Ø Prof. Spilios Fassois, University of Patras, Greece   

The workshop leaflet can be downloaded here.

The workshop invitation leaflet can be downloaded here.

Scientific Advisory Commitee - Venue - Call for Papers - Registration - Agenda


MEMSCON Workshop 2012 - Agenda 


  

 Opening Session

Time

Title

Name

09:00–09:05

Welcome Address

Angelos Amditis (Institute of Communication and Computer Systems, Greece)

09:05-09:15

Structural Monitoring for Post-Earthquake Decision Support on School Safety

Panagiotis Kerchoulas (President, Organization for School Buildings, Greece)

09:15-09:30

MEMSCON Project: Presentation of the Concept, Objectives and Potential Impact

Angelos Amditis (MEMSCON Project Coordinator)

Session 1: Advanced Sensing Technologies for Civil Engineering Structures

Chair: Daniele Zonta (University of Trento, Italy)

09:30-10:00

Keynote Speech: Wireless Sensors for Structural Health Monitoring of Bridges: Technology Developments and Field Deployments

Jerome Lynch (University of Michigan, US)

10:00-10:30

Keynote Speech: Innovative monitoring technologies for underground infrastructure

Kenichi Soga (University of Cambridge, UK)

Coffee Break (30¢)

 

 

 Session 1A: Advanced Sensing Technologies for Civil Engineering Structures

Chair: Jerome Lynch (University of Michigan, US)

11:00-11:20

Mobile Acoustic Sensing for the Subsurface Profile of Pavement

Ming Wang (Northeastern University, US)

11:20-11:40

Acoustic Sensors for Structural Monitoring in Construction

Athanasios Anastasopoulos (ENVIROCOUSTICS- member of MISTRAS group, Greece)

11:40-12:00

Low Power Wireless Sensor Network for Structural Health Monitoring of Buildings using MEMS Strain Sensors and Accelerometers

Tom Torfs (IMEC, Belgium)

12:00-12:20

Ultra Low Power Wireless Sensing for Long-Term Structural Monitoring of Civil Engineering Structures

Juan Santana (IMEC-NL)

Session 1B: Advanced Sensing Technologies for Civil Engineering Structures

Chair: Kenichi Soga (University of Cambridge, UK)

11:00-11:20

MEMS Accelerometers for Building Structural Health Monitoring Systems

Nicolas Bertsch (MEMSCAP SA, France)

11:20-11:40

MEMS-Based Strain Sensors for Structural Monitoring of Civil Engineering Structures

Vincent Spiering (Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., NL)

11:40-12:00

Controlling structural vibrations via smart variable dampers: experimental investigations and possible applications

Antonio Occhiuzzi (University of Naples ¡Parthenope¢, Italy)

12:00-12:20

Distributed Fiber Optic Sensors for Structural Health Monitoring

Daniele Inaudi (Smartec S.A., Switzerland)

 

Lunch Break (1h)

 

Session 2: Monitoring-Based Assessment of Structural Condition and Maintenance/Repair Management in Construction

Chair: Nicolas Bertsch (Memscap SA, France)

13:20-13:50

Keynote Speech: Simple but effective SHM: The sceptic-practitioner view of what works well, what doesn¢t and where we should direct our efforts

James Brownjohn (University of Sheffield, UK)

13:50-14:20

Keynote Speech: Non-Stationary Random Vibration Identification and Its Use in SHM

Spilios Fassois (University of Patras, Greece)

Session 2A

Chair: James Brownjohn (University of Sheffield, UK)

14:20-14:40

Expert system for proactive maintenance and rehabilitation following seismic damage

Stefanos Camarinopoulos (RISA, Germany)

14:40-15:00

Monitoring-Based Structural Assessment of Reinforced Concrete Tunnels and Buildings under Operating and Seismic Loads

Dimitris Bairaktaris (DBA Ltd, Greece)

15:00-15:20

Condition-Based Maintenance Management

Vassilis Kallidromitis (TECNIC, S.p.A., Italy)

15:20-15:40

Development of practical health monitoring system for short and medium span bridges based on vibration responses of city bus

Ayaho Miyamoto (Yamaguchi University, Japan)

Session 2B

Chair: Spilios Fassois (University of Patras, Greece)

14:20-14:40

Practical application of SHM system based on optical FBG sensors for truss structures

Wiesław Ostachowicz (Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland)

14:40-15:00

Energy harvesting and vibration damping on wind turbines

Konstantinos Gkoumas (University of Rome ¡La Sapienza¢, Italy)

15:00-15:20

Development of an integrated monitoring system for building (energy) management and structural health monitoring

Yong Lu (University of Edinburgh, UK)

15:20-15:40

Highly Synchronous Wireless Sensor Network for Structural Health Monitoring

Martin Fritz (VCE Holding GmbH, Austria)

Coffee Break (30¢)

 

Session 3: Field Applications: Structural Monitoring and Assessment of Buildings and Bridges

Chair: Daniele Inaudi (Smartec SA, Switzerland)

16:10-16:40

Keynote Speech: Wireless monitoring of historic structures using sensor networks

Christian Grosse (TU Munich, Germany)

16:40-17:10

Keynote Speech: Monitoring Civil Structures using Fiber Optic Sensors

Branko Glisic (Princeton University, US)

Session 3A

Chair: Christian Grosse (Technical University Munich, Germany)

17:10-17:30

Early Warning Monitoring System of Modular Expansion Joints Based on Dynamic Behavior

Willy Peelen

(TNO, The Netherlands)

17:30-17:50

The monitoring system of the “Due Torri” in Bologna, Italy: preliminary results

Giada Gasparini (University of Bologna, Italy)

17:50-18:10

Structural integrity monitoring of a cable-stayed bridge with artificial neural networks

Stefania Arangio (University of Rome ¡La Sapienza¢, Italy)

Session 3B

Chair: Branko Glisic (Princeton University, US)

17:10-17:30

Earthquake assessment of reinforced concrete buildings

Daniele Zonta (University of Trento, Italy)

17:30-17:50

Structural Health Monitoring of the Large Adriatic Arch Bridges

Jure Radic (University of Zagreb, Croatia)

17:50-18:10

Seismic isolation and monitoring of a religious building in Italy

Mariacristina Spizzuoco (University of Naples ¡Federico II¢, Italy)

 

Clossing Session

18:10-18:25

Concluding remarks

Angelos Amditis (Institute of Communication and Computer Systems, Greece)

Download agenda

Invitation - Scientific Advisory Commitee - Venue - Call for Papers - Registration


MEMSCON Workshop 2012 - Registration


MEMSCON ATHENS WORKSHOP

Towards Intelligent Civil Infrastructure

March 29, 2012, Athens, Greece

ATHENIAN CAPITOL

The registration to the conference is free of charge. Organizational costs are covered by the MEMSCON project.

Please provide us with the following information:

Name:
Surname:
Institution:
Address:
Country:
Tel.:
Fax:
E-mail:
 

Contact Information:

Phone Number: +302107721663

Fax Number: +302107722291

 


MEMSCON Workshop 2012 - Call for papers 


MEMSCON workshop will cover, but is not limited to, the following topics: 

Ø  Advanced sensing technologies for civil structures: MEMS, fiber optic sensors, bio-inspired sensors, multifunctional materials.

Ø  Wireless Sensor Networks and distributed systems for real-time evaluation of civil structures.

Ø  Monitoring-based assessment of structural condition and maintenance/repair management in construction.

Ø  Field applications: buildings, bridges, tunnels, heritage structures, wind turbines.

 

Key Dates:

 

Abstract submission deadline:                                

1 October 2011

Acceptance of abstracts:31 October 2011
Full paper submission:  

20 December 2011                         (Extended to 10 January 2012)

Acceptance of full papers: 1 February 2012
Registration deadline:10 March 2012

 

Accepted abstract authors are invited to submit their full paper to: workshop@memscon.com by 10 January 2012. The template and instructions for the papers can be found here. A presentation suggested template can also be found here.

Contact:

 

Daniele Zonta

University of Trento, 38123 Trento, Italy

Phone Number: +390461282537

Fax Number: +390461282537

Email: daniele.zonta@unitn.it

 

Manthos Bimpas

Institute of Communication and Computer Systems

15773, Athens, Greece

Phone Number: +302107722467

Fax Number: +302107722291

Email: mbibas@iccs.gr

 

Invitation - Scientific Advisory Commitee - Venue Registration - Agenda

 


MEMSCON Workshop 2012 - Venue


Athenian Capitol Mall,
35, Ioulianou Street, 10433, Athens, Greece

View Larger Map

Athens, is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica periphery and it is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. The heritage of the classical era is still evident in the city, represented by a number of ancient monuments and works of art, the most famous of all being the Parthenon, widely considered a key landmark of early Western civilization. The city also retains a vast variety of Roman and Byzantine monuments, as well as a smaller number of remaining Ottoman monuments projecting the city's long history across the centuries.

The workshop will be held at the Conference Center of the Athenian Capitol Mall of the Charagionis Foundation in the city of Athens, Greece. The Athenian Capitol Mall also contains a 3D cinema, some 30 shops, and 10 restaurants and cafes and Greece¢s first Motor Museum. This museum, part of the Foundation, hosts 110 antique and top-of-the-line vehicles, with the oldest on display being a 1895 Hungarian-made fire engine and the newest a 1980 Ferrari 308 GTS.

Hellenic Motor Museum

Suggested Accommodation:

 

Radisson Blu Park Hotel Athens

10, Alexandras Av.

10682 Athens, Greece

Tel: 0030 210 88.94.500

Fax: 0030 210 82.38.420

http://www.rbathenspark.com

 

Titania Hotel

52, Panepistimiou Str

10678 Athens, Greece

Tel: 0030 210 33.26.000

Fax: 0030 210 33.00.700

http://www.titania.gr

 

Invitation - Scientific Advisory Commitee - Call for Papers - Registration- Agenda


 


MEMSCON Workshop 2012 - Scientific advisory committee


Ø  Prof. Angelos Amditis, ICCS, Greece

Ø  Dr. Dimitris Bairaktaris, DBA Ltd, Greece

Ø  Prof. Konrad Bergmeister, BOKU, Austria

Ø  Prof. Dionisio Bernal, Northeastern University, USA

Ø  Dr. Nicolas Bertch, Memscap, France

Ø  Prof. James Brownjohn, University of Sheffield, UK

Ø  Prof. Pedro A. Calderón, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Spain

Ø  Prof. Fabio Casciati, University of Pavia, Italy

Ø  Prof. Spilios Fassois, University of Patras, Greece

Ø  Prof. Claus-Peter Fritzen, University of Siegen, Germany

Ø  Dr. Stamatia Frondistou-Yannas, SEPTE CO, Greece

Ø  Prof. Branko Glisic, Princeton University, USA

Ø  Prof. Christian Grosse, TU Munich, Germany

Ø  Prof. Alfredo Guemes, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid

Ø  Dr. Daniele Inaudi, Smartec SA, Switzerland

Ø  Prof. Anne Kiremidjian, Stanford University, USA

Ø  Dr. Markus Krüger, University of Stuttgart, Germany

Ø  Prof. Francesco Lanza di Scalea, UCSD, USA

Ø  Prof. Hui Li, Harbin Institute of Technology, China

Ø  Prof. Yong Lu, University of Edimburgh, UK

Ø  Prof. Jerome P. Lynch, University of Michigan, USA

Ø  Prof. Ayaho Miyamoto, Yamaguchi University, Japan

Ø  Prof. Jure Radic, University of Zagreb, Croatia

Ø  Prof. Wiesław M. Ostachowicz, Polish Academy of Science, Poland

Ø  Dr. Nicolas Saillen, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Netherlands

Ø  Dr. Juan Santana, IMEC-NL, Eindhoven, Netherlands

Ø  Prof. Alessandro De Stefano, Politecnico di Torino, Italy

Ø  Prof. Hoon Sohn, KAIST, Korea

Ø  Prof. Kenichi Soga, University of Cambridge, UK

Ø  Prof. Michael Todd, UCSD, USA

Ø  Dr. Tom Torf, IMEC, Belgium

Ø  Prof. Ming Wang, Northeastern University, USA

Ø  Dr. Helmut Wenzel, Vienna Consulting Engineers, Austria

Ø  Dr. Daniele Zonta, University of Trento, Italy

 

Invitation - Venue - Call for PapersRegistration - Agenda


 

Workshop

Toward Intelligent Civil Infrastructure

                                

Thursday, March 29, 2012


Radical developments in telecommunications and sensor technologies are about tochange the way that civil engineering design and infrastructure maintenance areconceived and carried out. Indeed, within the next ten years smart structuralelements with embedded sensors and systems capable of self-diagnosis will be anormal part of civil infrastructure. These elements will be permanentlyconnected to a distributed management network so that owners, users, and ingeneral, all those involved in the production/management process - connectedvia the Internet - can check element conditions during production, transport,installation and operation.

Of special importance is the monitoring of civilinfrastructure during an earthquake. During such an event structures may exceedtheir functional or structural limits and this can be visible. On the otherhand, they can also suffer enormous damage to their capacity without producingany apparent visible signs. Such damage can result in life threateningconditions evolving in the structure long after the earthquake has happened.Monitoring systems can provide a quick and accurate estimate of the level ofseismic damage that can be used to indicate loss of function and a quick andreliable assessment of the capacity of the structure to survive expectedaftershocks.

The goal of this workshop is to provide astate-of-the-art report on recent research activities, technologicalutilisation and commercialisation activities in structural monitoring systemsand software for the status-dependent maintenance and repair of constructedfacilities.

This event, which is organized by the partners in theEC funded project MEMSCON, will bring together the Structural Health Monitoringcommunity, European construction companies, owners of constructed facilities,insurance companies, policy makers and sector experts.

 

Keynote Speakers

Ø  Prof. James Brownjohn, University ofSheffield, UK

Ø  Prof. Branko Glisic, Princeton University, USA

Ø  Prof. Christian Grosse, TU Munich, Germany

Ø  Prof. Jerome P. Lynch University of Michigan,USA

Ø  Prof. Kenichi Soga, University of Cambridge,UK

 


 


2012 Workshop Event in Athens

...read more


2010 Workshop Event in Bucharest

...read more


Invitation
Scientific Advisory Commitee
Venue
Call for papers
Registration
Agenda


D1.9 ASIC Design and Test plan

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

 

The present document describes the test plan methodology for the ASIC readout for the accelerometer and strain sensor. It contains the basic information that is required to have the ASIC characterized regarding its performance in the DC, AC, Transient and Noise.

 

It also defines how parameters such as resolution, accuracy, linearity, etc have to be measured and compared to simulations. All measurements have to be done within the standard PVT (Process Voltage Temperature) corners. A thorough explanation of Noise test-bench is given and several diagrams are provided that explain the IOs, bias and external components required for the test of the ASIC.

 

Finally comparisons and conclusions about the ASIC are given and guidelines are also stated for the proper interpretation of the test results.

...read more

D2.2 Modules for the ‘Condition Assessment Based on Strain and Acceleration Measurements’ and ‘Rehabilitation Options and Costs’

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY   

 

The module for the assessment of the structural condition of reinforced concrete buildings is based on the methodology presented in deliverable 2.1. According to this methodology, the basic parameters affecting the overall behavior of the structure are estimated in a preprocessing phase from the records of a relatively small number of strain and acceleration sensors. This estimation is obtained through prepared appropriate software based on the relations already contained in the deliverable 2.1. In a second phase, the values of these parameters are introduced as data in the non linear analysis of the 3-dimensional space frame model of the whole structure which is executed by using the commercially available software SAP2000-ETABS. In a third post processing phase, the safety factors under operating loads or the damage indices under seismic forces for the totality of the structural members are estimated from the results of the non linear analysis by using prepared appropriate software based on the relations presented in the deliverable 2.1. Remedial measures are selected and their costs are assessed based on the values of the safety factors and damage indices.

Implementing the above procedure, the use of an extremely big number of strain sensors is avoided, as unrealistic. Normally, according to a deterministic procedure, 6 strain sensors per each beam, column or shear wall of the building structure would be required for the assessment of their structural condition directly from the records.

The assessment of the state of the building is divided in two separate conditions: Long Term and Earthquake behavior. These are further divided into Local and Global condition.

For the assessment of the long term behavior, the internal forces and the differential settlements of the columns at the ground floor (Local condition) are calculated from the records from the strain sensors. The Global condition consists of the internal forces and the safety factors of all the members of the structure, resulting from the analysis of the space frame model of the building.

After an earthquake event, the assessment of the structural condition takes place with the calculation of the displacements of the storeys from the records of the accelerometers. The internal forces of the structural elements and the corresponding damage index of each element (Local condition) result from the non linear elastoplastic analysis of the space frame model for the imposed seismic displacements. The instability index for each one storey and the global instability index (Global condition) are calculated from the number of the plastic hinges developed at the end cross sections of the columns.

It should be noted that the module for the assessment of the structural condition doesn’t interact with the user directly, but takes as input the records of the strain sensors and the accelerometers and produces the results for the corresponding rehabilitation module and the graphical user interface.

...read more

D.2.3 The Expert System, the Data Bases and the Knowledge Base

 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY     

The present report describes the work activities related to the Task 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 and 2.4 of the Work Package 2 (Development of the DSS for Proactive Rehabilitation and Rehabilitation Following Seismic Damage). More over it describes the context of the final version of the prototype of the DSS.

The tasks include the Design and Implementation of the Expert System, the Data and Knowledge Base and the Data Manager as well as the testing of functionalities of the modules and of results, on the basis of the architecture developed in Task 2.4.2.1 (“Requirements and specifications”).

During the design and implementation stages the following activities have been performed:

1)     detailed analysis of the internal structure of each module, including interrelations between sub-modules and intermediate results;

2)     definition of the data dictionary including parameters and variables considered in the calculation module developing  in WP1;

3)     design and implementation of the User Interface based on the requirements reported at Task 2.4.2.1

4)     After the implementation, the System was tested by developers and engineers.

Testing activities included functional tests in terms of data loading and modification, visual analysis of the developed frames and check of visibility of the results in graphic form as well as the analysis of the correctness of the Module’s results which include the following tasks:

·       System tests,

·       Unit tests

·       Integration tests

 

The testing activities were followed by the refinement and the technical verification of the Expert System and the Data and Knowledge Bases.

After the analysis of these tasks’ results we believe that the work has been satisfactorily accomplished, as all the initial objectives are fulfilled. The experience from the test and the feedback received lead to the conclusion that the Prototype of the DSS as the outcome of this deliverable is a powerful and highly competitive tool which ensures the realization of the final DSS.

...read more

D3.3 Tests on full-scale column specimens

Executive Summary 

 

This report illustrates the design, development and results of tests on full-scale reinforced concrete columns to validate, in the laboratory, deformation sensors denominated “Phase-I prototypes”. These sensors are integrated in wireless nodes produced by ICCS, AMS and SITEX.

The scope of this experimental campaign is to extend the results of tests on reduced scale specimens (described in deliverable 3.1) to a more complex and realistic environment that can simulate the behavior of a real column in a building, up to an extreme scenario. During settlement and, more often, during an earthquake, columns can undergo extensive damage including concrete cracking, cover spalling, crushing and reinforcement yield. As we use the wireless network to estimate the damage level during or after these events, we must investigate the network performance and efficiency under the same conditions.

This report describes the design concept of the Reinforced Concrete (RC) specimens, their construction and instrumentation, the test protocol, the results and consequent observations.

The tests show that the sensors work correctly, with a precision of approximately 50me, which is adequate for many applications. A problem remains, that of the reduced range of measurable deformation (±4000me), which depends on the commercial sensor used, independently of the wireless acquisition.

Further, the campaign has quantified the importance of shear deformation in seismic damage, comparing this with effects due to bending. This is important for calibration of the damage interpretation model, which is the object of development in work package 2.

...read more

D6.3 Plan for the dissemination and use of the results First version

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

 

Within this document a dissemination plan and report is arranged in order to assist the effective use of resources allocated to the dissemination task and demonstrate its achievement up to now.

The dissemination plan for the whole duration of the project until its end is here presented. This includes the maximizing of the effort to advertise the project’s results and research findings to the public so that the project achieves a real impact in the community.

 

The plan aims to provide:

-        the objectives and the strategy for dissemination;

-        a general procedure for the dissemination, including instructions and limitations;

-        a report of the achievements of the dissemination up to now and a prevision per each year of the project duration.

 

During the first part of the project the dissemination activities has been focused on spreading the concepts and ideas behind the project’s research activities. MEMSCON consortium regularly presents papers and publications to various national and international events as described in this report. Generally the added value of each event is priory examined, making sure each time that the maximum amount of audience belonging to the target groups already specified will be reached. This is and will be achieved through project presentations not only to European located international events but also to conferences in the United States and congresses at international level. The above events will be complemented with publications to major high impact conferences and also, in the future, to international journals.

At the same time extensive care of the MEMSCON website through continuous updates will aim in maintaining the interest of both experts and end users, while regular newsletters are sent to the User Forum members. Dissemination material has already been produced in the first part of the project, and this activity will be extended in the following period.

Finally, the outcomes of the project will be presented in two international workshops specifically dedicated to the project and organized by members of the consortium.

...read more

 MEMSCON Workshop Event in Bucharest


The partners in MEMSCON organized a workshop on Structural Monitoring and Assessment of Civil Engineering Structures. It took place on October 7, 2010 in Bucharest, Romania. The goal of this workshop was to provide a state-of-the-art report on recent research activities, technological utilization and commercialization activities in structural monitoring systems and software for the status-dependent maintenance and repair of constructed facilities. 

This event brought together European construction companies, owners of constructed facilities, insurance companies, policy makers and sector experts.

Below you can find all the presentations given at the workshop.

Welcome Speeches

·       Dr. Dumitru Ulieru (Workshop Organiser, SITEX 45, Romania) Download proceedings

 

·       Dr. Angelos Amditis (Coordinator of MEMSCON project, ICCS, National Technical University of Athens, Greece) 

 

·       Dr. Iulia Mihai (Director of Romanian Office for Research and Technology/ Ministry of Education and Research, Romania) Download slides / Download proceedings

 

·       Prof. Horea Sandi (Romanian Academy of Technical Sciences, Romania) Download slides / Download proceedings

 

Key Note Speech

 

·       Prof. Anne Kiremidjian (Stanford University, USA) “Wireless Structural Health Monitoring and the Civil Infrastructure Systems:Current State and Future Applications” Download slides / Download proceedings

 

Technical Sessions

 

Construction Platform ECTP: Strategic Agenda “Monitoring and assessment in the strategic plans of ECTP agenda”

 

·       Dr. Doru Vladimir Puscasu (CEPROCIM S.A. Bucharest, Romania) Download slides / Download proceedings

 

MEMSCON Project: Presentation of the concept, objectives and potential impact

 

·       Dr. Angelos Amditis (ICCS, National Technical University of Athens, Greece) Download slides / Download proceedings 

 

 

Structural Monitoring Systems in Construction

 

·       Sean Neylon (CEO Colibrys S.A., Switzerland) “MEMS based seismic and vibration sensors in Building & Structural Health Monitoring systems” Download slides / Download proceedings

 

·       Markus Krüger (University of Stuttgart, Germany) “Wireless Structural health monitoring - from research to reliable application”Download slides / Download proceedings

 

·       Carmen Moldovan (IMT Bucharest, Romania) “INTEGRAM Project and Use Cases” Download slides / Download proceedings

 

·       Mikael Colin (MEMSCAP S.A., France) “3-axis Accelerometer for Building Applications” Download slides / Download proceedings

 

·       Juan Santana (IMEC-NL, Netherlands) “3-Axis accelerometer and strain sensor readout for MEMS-based capacitive sensors” Download slides / Download proceedings

 

 

Monitoring-Based Assessment of Structural Condition and Maintenance/Repair Management in Construction

 

·       Dimitris Bairaktaris (DBA, Greece) “Monitoring-Based Assessment of the Structural Condition of a Building under Operating Loads and of the Seismic Damage in Reinforced Concrete Buildings” Download slides / Download proceedings

 

·       Vasilis Kallidromitis (TECNIC, Italy) “Condition-Based Maintenance Management” Download slides / Download proceedings

 

·       Stephanos Camarinopoulos (RISA, Germany) “Decision-Support-System for the Rehabilitation of Buildings: The MEMSCON Project” Download slides / Download proceedings

 

·       Roberto Walder (Smartec SA, Switzerland), “Integrated Structural Health Monitoring Systems for Buildings” Download slides /Download proceedings

 

·       Jose Vicente Fuento (ALDICO, Spain) “Integration of technologies applied to the structural assessment” Download slides / Download proceedings

 

Laboratory Evaluation of SHM technologies

 

·       Javier Molina (ELSA Laboratory, Joint Research Centre, EU) “ Severe loading tests on large-size structures at ELSA laboratory” Download slides / Download proceedings

 

·       Daniele Zonta (University of Trento, Italy), “Laboratory validation of intelligent structure technologies” Download slides / Download proceedings

 

·       Emil Sever Georgescu (INCERC, Romania) “Current State of monitoring structures in the seismic areas of Romania” Download slides / Download proceedings

 

·       Horea Sandi (Romanian Academy of Technical Sciences, Romania) “A view on current needs of structural health monitoring in Romania” Download slides /Download proceedings

 

Picture Gallery

Downloads

Workshop Agenda

Workshop Venue

Registration Form

Workshop Flyer

Workshop Poster

For further details contact:

Professor Daniele Zonta University of Trento Daniele.Zonta@ing.unitn.it


D2.1 Methodology for the Assessment of the Structural Condition of Monitored Damaged Reinforced Concrete Buildings and the Selection of Remedial Measures

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY


A methodology is developed to estimate physical damage at the structural
component and global level and repair cost for instrumented reinforced concrete (r.c.) buildings shortly after the cessation of strong motion.

A methodology is also developed to estimate differential settlement between
foundations and the resulting physical damage at the global and structural
component level for instrumented r.c. buildings under operating loads.

For seismic conditions the developed methodology uses building-specific
knowledge of the facility’s structural system, input from the two three-dimensional accelerators in every floor and the building basement on time history of accelerations during the seismic event, non-linear dynamic analysis and a novel energy-based theory of seismic failure for r.c. structures to assess the locations and extent of structural damage so that the owners and occupants know immediately about the building safety. This assessment can be used to direct structural engineers to locations of physical damage, even if they are concealed behind architectural finishes. Moreover, this assessment has been used with construction cost-estimation principles to estimate repair cost which is invaluable for quickly arranging for financing.

Under operating conditions the most common reason for changes in the internal forces during the building life-span is differential settlement between foundations on cohesive soils subjected to consolidation or due to deep excavations in the vicinity of the building. It is not possible to measure the absolute value of settlements through strain sensors. However, it is possible to estimate the support reactions at the columns’ bottom cross-section on the foundations, at which locations the strain sensors are only placed in the instrumented r.c. building. The changes in values of the support reactions that will be estimated in sequential periodic measurements compared to the values measured in the initial condition of the building constitute the input for a finite element analysis.

 The sum of the measured axial forces on the columns equals the sum of the active vertical loads on the structure. The vertical loads that are applied on the members in the model are equal to the initial design loads multiplied by the ratio of the total active loads to the total initial design loads. Then the analysis is performed to derive stresses and moments that are compared to limit values in order to determine physical damage of structural members and the amount of differential settlement between foundations. The above analysis at the time of periodic measurements of strain will establish, timely, whether foundation movement is progressive and threatening to the building reducing dramatically the expense of remedial measures.

...read more

D1.5 Customised design MEMS-based strain and acceleration sensors with the selected principle

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

This document describes the design of the MEMS strain sensor and accelerometer to be used for the MEMSCON Project.  

Typical design steps including basic calculations, but also exhaustive simulation work using tools like Algor or ANSYS. During the design process not only mechanical effects, but also limitations of the fabrication technology have to be considered. Within this report the major steps and the final design parameters are presented 

The new sensor designs in combination with technologies development are always having some risks. Process variations or material parameters may not be know exactly during the design, and may result in a drift of sensor performance. Good design practice is therefore the addition of several design variation in the first layout.

For the strain sensor four design variations are included in the first mask layout. 

For the first design cycle of the 3D accelerometer it was decided to place the two in plane sensors (x,y) on the same chip, and the out of plane sensor (z) on a seperated chip. Both chips will be assembled together with the ASIC in the one package. This apparoach allows more design variations and is reducing yield problems. The layout of the first 3D accelerometer is including 3 different x,y sensor designs and 4 different z sensor designs.

...read more

D1.8 Simulations and measurement results involving the wireless interrogation transceiver

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

The wireless interrogator that has been constructed by ICCS and AMS ought to be tested in the framework of task 1.2 “Design and Development of the Base Station Wireless Interrogator and the High Gain, High Efficiency Antenna Unit Using Hybrid Technologies”.

According to the description of work, wireless test signals have to be sent and evaluated at different distances of communication with different environmental and obstruction situations. This deliverable describes the simulation and the measurement results from the wireless interrogator including the antenna.

This document provides some general information about the communication link implementation between the Base Station Wireless Interrogator and the several sensor nodes that have been installed in a building for the acceleration and the strain measurement data transmission. The Zigbee protocol has been selected and Zigbit units have been utilised for the purposes of the communication link. More information about this procedure has been provided by AMS in an internal report since 12/08. The content of this report has been included in the Annex I of this deliverable.

This deliverable summarizes the results of the simulations that were performed using the Agilent ADS2009 software in order the appropriate function of the Wireless Transceiver to be verified.

Last but not least, the series of measurements in an indoor and an outdoor environment (in both semi-urban and typical urban area) are given. All of the results prove that the selection of the zigbee protocol was the appropriate one for the MEMSCON application.

...read more

D1.3 Mechanical demonstrator of the integration concept

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
 
This deliverable report is attached to the demonstrator deliverable 1.3, as a result of task 1.4.2: demonstrating the mechanical packaging of the strain sensor and its read-out electronics, ready to be mounted on the rebar.
The work presented in this deliverable is strongly entangled with the development of the strain sensor (task 1.3.3), the development of the readout electronics ASIC, the development of the readout electronics circuitry (task 1.4.3).

For this deliverable the main challenge was found in finding a package that can reliably withstand the strain subjected to the strain sensor (max. 3%). Two solutions are found:
1) The first solution is valid for circuits which have a similar length and width (square-like surface of the PCB). On these samples the strain can be countered by a thicker PDMS layer on top and below the circuitry. A flex interconnect is used to bridge the strain-sensor to PCB gap, which are positioned at a different height relative to the rebar: the strain sensor is glued to the rebar, while the electronics are supported by a thin layer of PDMS. The PCB is a standard PCB and therefore cost-effective, the amount of PDMS used is less than in the second solution. The SMD-components are however subjected to a shear force, which might introduce reliability issues.

 

Figure 1 : Overview of the first packaging scheme proposed


2) The second solution is to be applied if the PCB for the sensor and the readout electronics has a rectangular form factor, i.e. one dimension is larger than the two other dimensions. This is the case if the width of the sensor node is restricted by the end users. In this case a 3% elongation will destroy both the soldered interconnections between the SMD-component, as well as the copper lines on the PCB. The solution consists in folding the PCB by implementing flexible regions, while the rigid components are mounted on rigid PCB-parts. This solution uses a complex molding step using PDMS.
This solution is also applicable for circuits with a square form factor, further decreasing the stresses on the soldered joints.


Figure 2 : Overview of the second packaging scheme, smaller in length.


With this deliverable a proof of concept of both mechanical demonstrators is given, with a special focus on the second solution. The choice in between both solutions will depend on :
1) The end-user requirements : maximum width of the strain sensor package
2) Reliability tests of the package when subjected to repetitive 3% strain elongation.
3) The form factor of the ASIC : SOIC package or wire-bonded die
The answer to question 3 will depend on 1 and 2: a SOIC package is not compatible with a rectangular form factor of the PCB. A wire-bonded die is however more expensive in fabrication, and introduces extra reliability issues.

 

...read more

D 1.2: Evaluation of measurement principles

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

The goal of the work presented in this document is to define the best suited sensing principle and fabrication technology for the MEMS sensors within the MEMSCON project. Two components are required: a 1D strain sensor and a 3D accelerometer.

 

The first part of the document describes the possible measurement principles and fabrication technologies for the accelerometer. The different measurement principles and fabrication technologies are analyzed and the advantages and disadvantages with respect to the MEMSCON project are evaluated. Based on this evaluation and the expertise at MEMSCAP, the basic concept for the 3D MEMSCON accelerometer is developed. A capacitive sensing principle with mechanical elements realized in a surface micromachining technology is selected. The sensor will use independent mechanical elements for each axis. For the in plane sensing, interdigitated comb structures will be used. For the out of plane sensing a pendulum type of element will be realized. The fabrication technology for the three elements is identical; therefore the three elements can be placed on the same chip building a 3D accelerometer.

 

The second part of this document describes the analysis done for the strain sensor. The different requirements of the end uses and their influences on the choice of principle are given. The requirement that was found to be the most challenging was the combination of a large measurement rang and high accuracy. This requires a very sensitive sensing principle.

Following the requirement, different sensing principles were studied for the strain sensor. Literature research showed the state-of-the-art of each principle and the internal experience of C2V brought the advantage and disadvantage of each principle regarding the fabrication of the sensors. After comparing each sensing principle, it was found that the capacitive sensing principle was the most appropriate because using this principle means that only one ASCI needs to be fabricated for both the accelerometer (other sensor part of the MEMSCON project) and the strain sensor. Moreover, sensor using the capacitive sensing principle exhibit good behavior and the fabrication of such a sensor require only relatively standard MEMS processes.

...read more

D1.1: System specifications and market research

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Present report defines the system specifications of the MEMSCON system to de designed and constructed. MEMSCON aims to develop a new generation of tiny, cheap, networked sensors that can be ‘sprayed’ on civil and building structures to provide detailed, quantitative information on the structure’s physical state while in service. Towards this direction, MEMS-based sensors shall be integrated with an RFID tag in a single package in a low-power, wireless, networking scheme. The provided information can be used to assess the structural condition and aid decision making on rehabilitation so that safety can be attained and material consumption and rehabilitation costs can be reduced.  

The most relative properties for structural analysis are movement (acceleration and displacement) and forces. The corresponding sensors that produce these measurements are accelerometers and strain sensors (stresses and forces can be deduced from strain measurements).

At this report, we present the main end-user requirements concerning the proposed system and the system specifications as emanate from the requirements. The user requirements mainly involve the demands for the physical characteristics, the power consumption and any environmental or other installation requirement concerning the sub-systems and the integrated package. Based on these requirements, the developers subsequently provided the specifications for the RFIDs, the strain sensors and the accelerators along with the base station and the interrogation unit.

The last part of this deliverable includes a market research on different other commercial components that are used for similar purposes.

This deliverable is an essential component in order to proceed with the implementation of the hardware and software that will be carried out within MEMSCON project.

...read more

hello

Links


CORDIS Seventh Framework Programme

CORDIS Community Research & Development Information Service

CORDIS Wire The Innovation & Research Exchange on CORDIS

National R&D Information Services

Information & Communication Technologies

Memscon Internal Portal

  

 


News


2012-04-30: Release of the sixth MEMSCON Newsletter

         Download

2011-07-30: Release of the fifth MEMSCON Newsletter

         Download

2011-06-06: The second MEMSCON Workshop Event in Athens

Civil engineering structures are generally the most expensive assets in any country and are currently deteriorating at a frightening rate. These structures have a very long service life while assessment of their ongoing structural condition practically does not exist. 

Introduction of monitoring systems, an evolving technology, can provide objective measurements of their structural condition and aid in timely and cost-effective maintenance

Of special importance is the monitoring of civil infrastructure during an earthquake. During such an event structures may exceed their functional or structural limits and this can be visible. On the other hand, they can also suffer enormous damage to their capacity without producing any apparent visible signs. Such damage can result in life threatening conditions evolving in the structure long after the earthquake has happened. Such damage can also render the structure incapable of surviving consecutive aftershocks. These aftershocks take place within few hours of the earthquake and can have an intensity of up to 90% of the earthquake intensity.

Monitoring systems can provide a quick and accurate estimate of the level of seismic damage that can be used to indicate loss of function and a quick and reliable assessment of the capacity of the structure to survive expected aftershocks.

The goal of this workshop is to provide a state-of-the-art report on recent research activities, technological utilisation and commercialisation activities in structural monitoring systems and software for the status-dependent maintenance and repair of constructed facilities.

This event,  which is organized by the partners in the EC funded project MEMSCON, will bring together the Structural Health Monitoring community, European construction companies, owners of constructed facilities, insurance companies, policy makers and sector experts. This workshop will be held in Athens, Greece.

2011-02-22: Release of the fourth MEMSCON Newsletter

         Download

2010-07-25: Release of the third MEMSCON Newsletter

         Download

 

2010-07-03: Release of the preliminary programme for the Memscon workshop in Bucharest

Please note that the programme and speakers are subject to alteration.

Download programme as pdf

 

2010-04-15: Release of the second MEMSCON Newsletter

         Download

 

2010-04-13: The first MEMSCON Workshop Event in Bucharest

The partners in MEMSCON are organizing a workshop on Structural Monitoring and Assessment of Civil Engineering Structures. It will take place on October 7, 2010 in Bucharest, Romania. The goal of this workshop is to provide a state-of-the-art report on recent research activities, technological utilization and commercialization activities in structural monitoring systems and software for the status-dependent maintenance and repair of constructed facilities.

This event will bring together European construction companies, owners of constructed facilities, insurance companies, policy makers and sector experts. For further details contact:

Professor Daniele Zonta University of Trento Daniele.Zonta@ing.unitn.it

 

2009-11-20: Release of the first MEMSCON Newsletter

         Download

 

2009-06-23: Most important conferences relevant to MEMSCON research area
    1. 2nd International Conference on Smart Materials and Nanotechnology in Engineering (SMN2009) 8-11 July 2009 Weihai, Shandong, China http://smart-nano.org/smn2009/en/frame.htm
    2. 4th International Conference on Structural Health Monitoring of Intelligent Infrastructure (SHMII-4 2009) 22-24 July 2009 Zurich, Switzerland http://www.ishmii.org/News/SHMII4.html
    3. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON WIRELESS COMMUNICATION AND SENSOR COMPUTING 2-4 January 2010 Chennai, India http://www.ssnicwcsc2010.in:8040/index2.jsp
    4. SPIE Smart Structures and Materials + Nondestructive Evaluation and Health Monitoring 7-11 March 2010 San Diego, California, USA http://spie.org/x12228.xml
    5. European Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring (EWSHM-2010) 29 June - 2 July 2010 Sorrento, Naples - Grand Hotel Vesuvio - Italy http://structure.stanford.edu/workshop/past/announcement _ewshm2010_final.pdf
    6. 9th U.S. Nat?l & 10th Canadian Conf. on EQ Eng.: Reaching Beyond Borders 23-29 August 2010 Toronto - Westin Harbour Castle Hotel - Canada http://www.2010eqconf.org
    7. 14th European Conference on Earthquake Engineering  30 August - 3 September 2010 Skopje-Ohrid, FYROM http://www.eaee.boun.edu.tr/ecee/skopje2008.pdf

Concept


Rapid advances in Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, in Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), in lower-power wireless networking and in computation give hopes for a new generation of small, inexpensive, networked sensors that can be distributed on civil and building structures to provide accurate, quantitative information on the structure’s physical state while in service. This information can be used to assess the structural condition of the monitored facility and aid decision making on rehabilitation[1] so that safety can be attained and rehabilitation costs can be reduced.

The most relative properties for structural analysis are movement (acceleration and displacement) and forces. The corresponding sensors that produce these measurements are accelerometers and strain sensors (stresses and forces can be deduced from strain measurements).

Impact


 The above integrated package for building monitoring and assessment will promote ‘Proactive Condition-Based Maintenance’ which is based on measurements aimed at an early detection of degradation, thereby allowing degradation to be eliminated or at least controlled prior to significant physical deterioration. The result is a significant decrease in maintenance cost, because problems are less expensive to fix when they are first developing, and an increase in building safety.

The impact on safety will be more pronounced in the case of an earthquake where it is essential to have an accurate and quick assessment of the building structural condition for several reasons: (a) dissemination of information to emergency response officials on building collapses within minutes after the occurrence of the earthquake can result in lives saved and prudent allocation of resources and (b) quick and accurate estimates of the level of damage can be used to indicate loss of function and help officials decide whether the school, hospital, etc., should be evacuated or remain in service. Often such information is delayed due to weather conditions, lack of daylight, inappropriate survey equipment or lack of access to the site due to terrain obstacles. 

The Monitoring Devices


The MEMSCON system is containing two classes of sensors: the 3D acceleration sensor and the 1D strain sensor. The sensors will be integrated with an RFID tag and communicated wireless with a base station. A multitude of sensor nodes (i.e. sensor + RFID tag) will be distributed over the building (see Fig. 2) and monitor stress and deformation within the building.  Each sensor node will be individually supplied by a battery. In order to keep the required maintenance level low enough, the battery must have a lifetime of at least a couple of years.  This requires not only efficient batteries, but demands also power optimised sensors and RFID tags.

 Figure 2. Hardware (Sensors, Data Collection Hardware and Wireless Communication) in the Monitoring System under Development.. 

Sensing and wireless communication will take place at specified time intervals as needed. To assess the progress of ageing, strain measurements will be taken every few months. Power consumption is uncritical in this case.  The measurement of acceleration will only take place during earthquakes.  As a constant monitoring of the acceleration requires too much power most of acceleration sensor nodes will be kept in a low power mode until they receive a “wake up call”. The “wake up call” will be generated by selected accelerometers within the building: as soon as a certain acceleration threshold is passed at these nodes the entire network will be activated.

Compactness and low cost is the main driver within MEMSCON to use MEMS-based sensors. Various MEMS-based accelerometers are commercially available on the market, since a few years also as 3D accelerometers. These sensors have been developed mainly for the consumer market and automotive applications. Although some sensors of the latest generation of of-the-shelf sensors are able to fulfil some of the requirements for the MEMSCON system, the low power consumption is the critical point that cannot be satisfied with these sensors.

There are 2 different trends in MEMS technology: monolithic integration and hybrid integration. Monolithic integration allows the fabrication of the MEMS element on the same die with the signal conditioning circuitry (time consuming and very costly approach for product development and/or customisation. This is the approach of the blue chip companies, (mainly in the US), whereas hybrid integration uses the system in package approach (wide spread in Europe and for SMEs). By taking full advantage of batch processing, both approaches result in improved sensor performance and reliability as well as reduced sensor cost in the case of mass-volume production. In view of the limited time window in this project for tag prototyping, and the level of system integration required for the MEMSCON system, the 3D acceleration sensors and the electronics will be fabricated separately.  Critical electronic functions will be integrated on an ASIC and assembled close together with the MEMS in one package.

Each accelerometer will be capable of measuring accelerations of up to +/- 2g, in 3 dimensions, with an accuracy of few mgs. The temperature stability of the sensor will be less than +/-0.1g. The most challenging part is the power consumption. The accelerometer and the related ASIC must be designed for low power consumption

 Strain gauges provide the technical basis for common systems to measure strains in the monitored sections of constructed facilities. While metallic foil strain gauges are widely used, strain gauges can also be constructed from semiconductor materials. Having the strain gauge fabricated in semiconductor material offer the same processing advantages as for the 3D accelerometer. Moreover, this also allows for choosing the sensing principle and matching it with the accelerometer. By doing so, only one ASIC need to be designed that can be used for both MEMS sensor, further reducing the cost of each sensor.

The main challenge in the strain sensor is the combination of a high range: ±30’000µ? with a high accuracy: 10??. The advantage of semiconductor material is the possibility of fabricating sensor with high precision and high accuracy. However, semiconductor materials are brittle and therefore not suited to experience large strain. With the freedom that MEMS processing offers, this problem can be overcome through clever designs and the required specification met.

The goal of the strain sensor will be to measure the strain in the rebars of the reinforced concrete column of the building. Hence, the installation of the sensors will be made prior to pouring of the concrete. This poses some extra difficulties in the packaging of the sensor because of the harsh environment created by fresh concrete (pH of 14). In addition to this constrain, the package also has to be flexible and stretchable so that it doesn’t interfere with the strain measurements.

Finally, due to the fact that the strain sensor will be embedded in concrete, the sensor will be designed into 2 separate packages so that one package, containing the battery and the antenna, can be placed outside of the column for improved antenna transmission/reception and to be able to change the battery.  The package embedded in the concrete will be attached to the rebars of the concrete column. The long term reliability of this assembly is critical since it will not be accessible after the construction of the building and therefore must have an extended lifetime (similar as the building lifetime).

Decision Support System


The general architecture of the DSS under development can be seen in Figure 1. It includes an Expert System that is connected to the Knowledge Base and the Sensor, History and External Data databases and Modules 1, 2 and 3.

In Module 1 input on strain in the monitored, critical, locations of a r.c. building will be processed to derive stresses and moments which will be compared to limit values in order to determine the structural adequacy of these critical cross-sections. Based on this and on how loads are distributed to the different members the global structural condition of the building and the possible need for proactive maintenance will be determined.

In Module 2 input from the acceleration sensors in a r.c. building during an earthquake will be processed to estimate: Areas where the design ground acceleration has been exceeded; the maximum displacements derived after double integration in respect to time of the monitored acceleration time history that will be compared to the max. design elastic displacements; damage and possible need for rehabilitation.

Module 3 will accept input on structural damage from Modules 1 and 2 based on which it will identify the feasible options and the resulting costs for proactive rehabilitation and seismic upgrading respectively.

To directly assess the axial force and the bending moments in a cross-section, strain sensors are required at the four corners of the cross-section at the extremes of each structural member. Thus, a total of 8 sensors are required for each member, such as beam, column and shear wall. Therefore, for a structural system consisting of ‘n’ linear members, the required no. of sensors will be 8n[1]

The no. of required sensors can be dramatically reduced when instead of aiming at a direct assessment of the internal forces in each member; some critical global parameters of the overall stress condition are being sought. Then, the internal forces in each structural member as well as their structural adequacy can be assessed through a finite element programme that will accept as input the measured values of the above critical parameters. The analysis will be performed using a commercially available finite elements programme installed in a central processing unit. In the memory of the latter unit models of all building elements together with their initial design values will be stored. Since the reinforcement and the order of magnitude of the internal forces will be known, stage II stiffness of each member will be inserted in the model.

Under operating conditions the most common reason for changes in the internal forces during the building life-span is differential settlement between foundations on cohesive soils subjected to consolidation. It is not possible to measure the absolute value of settlements through strain sensors. However, it is possible to estimate the support reactions at the columns’ bottom cross-sections on the foundations, at which locations the strain sensors will only be placed[2] (see Fig. 2). The changes in the values of the support reactions that will be estimated in sequential periodic measurements (say, once every 4 months) compared to the values measured in the initial condition of the building will constitute the input for the finite element analysis. The sum of the measured axial forces on the columns equals the sum of the active vertical loads on the structure. The vertical loads that will be applied on the members in the model will be equal to the initial design loads multiplied by the ratio of the total active loads to the total initial design loads.

The assessment of the internal forces and the strength adequacy of the structural members after an earthquake will be performed through a non-linear, dynamic, finite element method of analysis taking as input the recorded time history of the accelerations during the seismic event. Considering the floor slabs as diaphragms undistorted at their plane, for each story, required are the time histories of accelerations in 2 directions perpendicular to each other and 1 rotational acceleration around the vertical axis. With 3D acceleration sensors that will provide acceleration measurements in 3 vertical axis, since there will be no measurement of torsion, use will be made of two parallel accelerometers at the ends of the slab to be able to derive the torsion and the other required acceleration measurements. Two such accelerometers will also be placed at the foundation level[3]

 

 

 


[1] As an example, for the direct assessment of the internal forces in the members of a 6-story building with plan dimensions of 15x15 m2, to which correspond about 16 columns and 24 beams per story, the total no. of members being n=6(16+24)=240, the required no. of sensors will be 8x240=1920.

[2] In the case of the 16 columns of the 6 story building in the previous example, the no. of the required strain sensors is reduced to 6x4=64 sensors.

[3] For the 6 story building of the previous example, the no. of required acceleration sensors will be 2(6+1)=14.

[4] The term ‘rehabilitation’ it taken herein to include repair, retrofit, strengthening and maintenance and it is used interchangeably with these words.


Deliverables


D1.1 System specifications and market research

D1.2 Evaluation of measurement principles

D1.3 Mechanical demonstrator of the integration concept

D1.5 Customised design MEMS-based strain and acceleration sensors with the selected principle

D1.6 Tape-out

D1.7 Report on phase II sensor modules

D1.8 Simulations and measurement results involving the wireless interrogation transceiver

D1.9 ASIC Design and Test plan

D1.10 ASIC untested packaged prototypes

D1.11 ASIC characterization report

D2.1 P Methodology for the Assessment of the Structural Condition of Monitored Damaged Reinforced Concrete Buildings and the Selection of Remedial Measures 

D2.2 Modules for the ¡Condition Assessment Based on Strain and Acceleration Measurements¢ and ¡Rehabilitation Options and Costs¢

D2.3 The Expert System, the Data Bases and the Knowledge Base

D3.1 Laboratory evaluation of strain sensors and accelerometers

D6.4 Proceedings of the workshop in Bucharest in month no 24

D2.4 The DSS-Software and System Guide and the User Manual

D3.2 Outcome of lab static tests on columns

D3.3 Tests on full-scale column specimens

D3.4 Recommendations for integrating MEMS sensors in r.c. structures

D6.3 Plan for the dissemination and use of the results: First version

D5.1 Plan for the dissemination and use of results-Final


Publications


  • J. Santana,R. van den Hoven,C. van Liempd, M. Colin, N. Saillen, C. Van Hoof, "A 3-axis accelerometer and strain sensor system for building integrity monitoring", Proc. 16th International Conference on Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems, Beijing, June 5-9, 2011. click here to Download
  • A. Amditis, Y. Stratakos, D. Bairaktaris, M. Bimpas, S. Camarinopolos, S. Frondistou-Yannas, V. Kalidromitis, M. Pozzi, J. Santana, N. Saillen, T. Torfs, D. Ulieru, B. Wenk & D. Zonta, "An overview of MEMSCON project: an intelligent wireless sensor network for after-earthquake evaluation of concrete buildings", Proc. "14th European Cto Downloadonference on Earthquake Engineering (14ECEE)", Ohrid, FYROM, 30 Aug - 03 Sep, 2010.  click here to Download
  • A. Amditis, Y. Stratakos, D. Bairaktaris, M. Bimpas, S. Camarinopolos, S. Frondistou-Yannas, V. Kalidromitis, M. Pozzi, J. Santana, N. Saillen, T. Torfs, D. Ulieru, B. Wenk & D. Zonta, "Wireless sensor network for seismic evaluation of concrete buildings", Proc. " 5th European Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring (EWSHM 2010)", Sorrento, Italy, 29 Jun - 02 Jul, 2010 . click here to Download
  • D. Ulieru, B. Wenk & D. Zonta, "Wireless sensor network for seismic evaluation of concrete buildings", Proc. " 5th European Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring (EWSHM 2010)", Sorrento, Italy, 29 Jun - 02 Jul, 2010 - Status: Abstract under Conference Committee evaluation.
  • D. Ulieru, A. Tantau, E. Ulieru, F. Pistritu & A. Matei, “Laser Mcroprocessing of Flexible Substrates for HDI Circuits And Microsystems Fabrication”, ICOMM/4M Conference 5/8 April 2010 Madison Wisconsin USA - Status: Already Confirmation & scheduled for presentation.
  • D. Ulieru, E. Ulieru, A. Tantau & F. Pistritu, “HDI Manufacturing Comparative Analysis of Rigid Substrates for Wireless Sensors  Applications”, 4M 2010 Conference 17/19 Nov 2010 Plastipolis, PEP, Oyonnax, France. - Status: under Conference Committee evaluation.
  • D. Ulieru, E. Ulieru, A. Tantau & F. Pistritu, “A Novel Concept of HDI Microvias Manufacturing for RF Microsystems by Laser Precision Technology”, European Microwave Week Conference 2010 Paris, 26 sep / 1 oct 2010 - Status: under Conference Committee evaluation.
  • D. Ulieru, E. Ulieru, A. Tantau & F. Pistritu, “The nonscanning coherent radar application for distance measurement to diffuse surfac” European Microwave Week Conference 2010 Paris, 26 sep / 1 oct 2010 - Status: Abstracts under Conference Committee evaluation.
  • D. Ulieru, E. Ulieru, A. Tantau & F. Pistritu, “Wireless sensors network innovative application for industrial works monitoring” European Microwave Week Conference 2010 Paris, 26 sep / 1 oct 2010 - Status: Abstracts under Conference Committee evaluation.
  • D. Ulieru, E. Ulieru, A. Tantau & F. Pistritu, “Innovative technology for microwave circuits and devices by modern concept of rapid manufacturing.” European Microwave Week Conference 2010 Paris, 26 sep / 1 oct 2010 - Status: Abstracts under Conference Committee evaluation.



The Challenge


Rapid advances in Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, in Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), in lower-power wireless networking and in computation give hopes for a new generation of tiny, cheap, networked sensors that can be ‘sprayed’ on civil and building structures to provide detailed, quantitative information on the structure’s physical state while in service. This information can be used to assess the structural condition and aid decision making on rehabilitation so that safety can be attained and material consumption and rehabilitation costs can be reduced. However, these massively distributed sensor networks and the required algorithms and software tools to enable their applications must overcome a set of technological hurdles before they become widely deployable.

Current structural monitoring systems employ conventional cables to allow sensors to communicate their measurements to a central processing unit. They have high installation costs and leave wires vulnerable to ambient signal noise corruption which precludes them from becoming widely adopted. Moreover, the size and complexity of large structures require a large number of sensing points to be installed. The relatively large size of sensors currently employed in structural monitoring precludes their deployment in sensor-rich monitoring systems. An additional constraint to the sensor-rich monitoring systems is the relatively high cost of sensors.

The above problems can be solved if MEMS-based sensors are integrated with an RFID tag in a single, tiny, cheap package in a low-power, wireless, networking scheme.

The most relative properties for structural analysis are movement (acceleration and displacement) and forces. The corresponding sensors that produce these measurements are accelerometers and strain sensors (stresses and forces can be deduced from strain measurements).


Objectives


The objectives of the MEMSCON project are:

  • To integrate MEMS-based sensors and an RFID tag in a single package of small size that will be attached to reinforced concrete (r.c.) buildings for life cycle measurements of acceleration in 3 dimensions or strain in 1 dimension that will be transmitted to a remote base station using a wireless interface.
  • To develop a Decision-Support-System (DSS) for proactive rehabilitation and rehabilitation after earthquake damage in r.c. buildings. This DSS will accept input from the sensors in order to assess the structural condition of the monitored building and to select optimal remedial measures.
  • To evaluate an integrated package of the sensor system and the DSS both in experimental and field conditions

Structure
 
 
 
 
Graphical Presentation of Components
 
 
 

WP

Workpackage Title

Lead Contractor

1

Development of the Hardware (Sensors, Data Acquisition Hardware

and Wireless Communication

MEMSC AP

 

2

Development of the DSS for Proactive Rehabilitation and

Rehabilitation Following Seismic Damage RTD RISA 104.95 1 29

 

RISA

3

Laboratory Evaluation of the Sensing and Data Acquisition System

and Modules 1 and 2 of the DSS RTD UNITN 30 16 33

 

UNITN

4

Field Test of the Integrated Package on a Building RTD ACH 29 28 36

 

ACH

5

Knowledge Management and IPR Protection

MEMSC

   AP

6

Training and Dissemination of Results

UNITN

7

Consortium Management

ICCS


Partners


Image

MICROWAVE AND FIBER OPTICS LABORATORY - INSTITUTE OF COMMUNICATION AND COMPUTER SYSTEMS (ICCS)

Interuniversitair Micro-Electronica Centrum VZW Microsystems, Components and Packaging (IMEC)
Stiching IMEC-NL

MEMSCAP S.A.
Concept to Volume BV (C2V)
University of Trento Department of Mechanical and structural Engineering (UNITN)

Image

T.E.C.N.I.C.  S.p.A.

RISA SICHERHEITSANALYSEN GMBH (RISA)

Bairaktaris and Associates Ltd. (DBA)

Image

ADVANCED MICROWAVE SYSTEMS LTD (AMS)
Acropole Charagionis S.A. (ACH)
SITEX 45 SRL (SITEX)


NMP-Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and new Production Technologies

Welcome to the MEMSCON!

MEMSCON, with the aid of recent advances into Computation, Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID), Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and Low-Power Wireless technologies, provides latest generation, cheap and easy to mount sensors that can equip buildings and provide quantitative information on the structure¢s physical state while in service.

The system will be installable into concrete buildings and data will be sent to a central station (wirelessly) for processing and aiding decisions on proactive rehabilitation and rehabilitation after earthquake damages. It is highly expected that this will result in increased safety and lower maintenance costs by tackling problems when they first appear.

Furthermore, MEMSCON will transform the SME dominated building rehabilitation sector into an advanced knowledge sector, enhance the competitiveness of European SMEs, reduce time to assess the structural condition of a building in service and decide on remedial measures, promote sustainability, offer services with a high value added and enable the entrance of MEMS European SMEs to the large building market.

We are looking forward to seeing you at our final MEMSCON event that will run in Athens in March 2012. For more information, please go to Workshop in Athens.

Project Coordinator

Dr. Angelos Amditis                       

Do you want to know more about MEMSCON? This website has the aim to inform all interested persons about the project, its goals and achievements. Please contact us if you need more information or if you have any questions.

Find out more...        

Download latest newsletter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MEMSCON is a7th Framework Research Project co funded by the European Commission under the Thematic Area: “NMP-Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and new Production Technologies

 


Contact us


Project Coordinator:                                             

Dr Angelos Amditis
Research Associate Professor
Institute of Communication and Computer Systems
A.Amditis@iccs.gr

Technical Manager:

Dr Matthaios Bimpas
Institute of Communication and Computer Systems
mbibas@esd.ece.ntua.gr

Dissemination Manager:

Professor Daniele Zonta
University of Trento 
daniele.zonta@ing.unitn.it

Web Manager:

Mr Stephanos Camarinopoulos
RISA Sicherheitsanalysen GmbH
risa@risa.de