An Edge-Computing-Based Structural Health Monitoring System and Applications

Abstract In previous structural health monitoring, transmitting monitoring data to a centralized server for analysis resulted in higher computational costs and lower efficiency. This paper aims to relocate part of the data processing tasks from the centralized computer/Server to an edge computing device. This SHM system based on edge computing consists of three parts: hardware device, data analysis and application program. In the hardware device part, sensors paired with DAQ device convert structural response data into digital signals and transmit them to Raspberry Pi for further explanation. In the data analysis part, high-value information (i.e. the modal information) will be derived from the structure responses. Eventually, in the application part, the monitored data will be displayed. In contrast to the traditional SHM system, the edge-computing-based SHM system eliminates the requirement for data transmission and thus is more suitable for SHM of structures located in remote or extreme environments.