Wireless Sensor Networks are very convenient to monitor structures or even materials, as in McBIM project (Materials communicating with the Building Information Modeling). This project aims to develop the concept of “communicating concretes,” which are concrete elements embedding wireless sensor networks, for applications dedicated to Structure Health Monitoring in the construction industry. Due to applicative constraints, the topology of the wireless sensor network follows a chain-based structure. Node batteries cannot be replaced or easily recharged, it is crucial to evaluate the energy consumed by each node during the monitoring process. This area has been extensively studied leading to different energy models to evaluate energy consumption for chain-based structures. However, no simple, practical, and analytical network energy models have yet been proposed. Energy evaluation models of periodic data collection for chain-based structures are proposed. These models are compared and evaluated with an Arduino XBee–based platform. Experimental results show the mean prediction error of our models is 5%. Realizing aggregation at nodes significantly reduces energy consumption and avoids hot-spot problem with homogeneous consumptions along the chain. Models give an approximate lifetime of the wireless sensor network and communicating concretes services. They can also be used online by nodes for a self-assessment of their energy consumptions.

This article presents the design of communicating materials and their application to sensing communicating concrete for construction industry. After presenting the concept of communicating materials and its issues in the context of the construction and structure health monitoring, this article depicts the main contributions made so far in the physical development of a communicating concrete expected to be functional more than three decades. To obtain it, a specific cyber-physical architecture is proposed, using a two-level wireless sensor network with sensing and communicating nodes (CN). To maximize the lifetime of the communicating concrete, the energy conservation problem is improved with two proposals: an original energy harvesting system using wireless power transfer for embedded sensing nodes and analytical estimation models for predicting energy consumption of the CN network.

This paper introduces McBIM, a French national research project working on on-line monitoring on concrete structure. This project gathers 3 french laboratories (the CRAN, LAAS and LIB) associated with one company (360SmartConnect/FINAO SAS) that are working together from 2018 to 2021. It proposes 1) to design a “communicating concrete”, made of concrete equipped with embedded low-energy wireless microsensor network, able to manage and exchange data using BIM standards, and 2) to demonstrate the usefulness of this approach across several building lifecycle phases, namely the manufacturing, construction and exploitation phases for structural health monitoring. The paper will first start by introducing the project and then presents some preliminary results.

Various works propose solutions addressing the sustainability of IoT technologies to reduce their energy consumption, especially in the domain of wireless sensor networks. The diversity of applications, as well as the variability of their long-term constraints, forces them to dynamically adapt the network through time. Accordingly, this study formalizes the SADHoA-WSN framework to tackle the reconfiguration process. This proposal is a dynamic Holonic Control Architecture, linking the physical network evolution to the decisions made by a virtual multi-agent control system. The potential of such an approach is demonstrated by applying this framework to the energy optimization of communicating materials, i.e., materials equipped with inner wireless sensor nodes. The first implemented components of SADHoA-WSN and their related experimental results validate it as a promising energy-efficient dynamic methodology. This work lays the groundwork for optimized energy control in IoT networks.

This paper deals with the design of a communicating material dedicated to the Structural Health Monitoring of concrete structures for more than thirty years. To reach this longevity, a two-level Wireless Sensor Network made of Sensing Nodes and Communicating Nodes is proposed. To enhance the lifespan of the “communicating concrete”, a key innovation addressing the energy related challenge is presented: an original radiative electromagnetic (or RF) Wireless Power Transfer system for powering the buried Sensing Nodes; aiming to ensure the efficient and sustainable operation of the “communicating concrete” over an extended period.