Development of distributed sensor electronics for energy-efficient and proactive maintenance of buildings

Permanently installed sensor systems are becoming increasingly important for monitoring critical infrastructure. The research institutes Fraunhofer IZFP and BAM, together with industrial partners and users, are developing a concept for an electronic system consisting of an Edge-Gateway as a central high-performance node and a variable number of Sensor-Edge units that establish the connection between the sensors of the permanent monitoring system and the gateway, which also provides connection to a cloud. A software tool allows identification and localization of sensors and visualization of sensor data. The principle of the system is demonstrated using sensors installed in the road surface to monitor traffic loads as an example. Two test structures, a full-scale laboratory at Fraunhofer IZFP, Saarbrücken, and the “BLEIB” reference structure at BAM, test site technical safety (TTS) Horstwalde, were used to demonstrate the principle and the functioning of the electronic system.