Name of Sponsoring Organization: LORAM Technologies Inc.
Sponsor Point of Contact (name): Rahul Kalyankar
Email Address:
Name of Technical Mentor (i.e. Subject Matter Expert): Faculty Advisor: Wilfrido Moreno
TM Email Address:
Project Title: Advanced battery technology for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of Infrastructure
Required EE Area(s) of Expertise: Embedded Systems, sensors, control & instrumentation, energy management
Brief Project Description: The reliability of the Structural Health Monitoring depends on how the data being recorded by sensors, getting transferred to the cloud services, getting analyzed and how the critical information is being sent out to the infrastructure owners. Its reliability depends on the power that is generated on site (solar or wind) and its storage. Traditionally different types of batteries are used; however, the infrastructure to be monitor, i.e. bridge sites are remote, and its quite challenging to setup a reliable battery charging system. To this end, in the first phase of development, we want to modularize the battery unit, by replacing the traditional heavy batteries with other potential solutions such as using small D cell LiFe batteries (connected either in parallel or series) for better SHM performance, ease of installation, and designed to improve battery life cycle management. The new design will also include the use of modern fiber reinforced composite casing for better IP68 protectio
Major system products expected from this project: Following a System Engineering Approach, the Capstone project will deliver the design, development and test of an advanced battery powered based system that can support the HSM system integration being proposed using an embedded system solution where batteries, charging stations, compact sensors, data loggers for sensor data, and data communication are all integrated
Parts of the project that “Engineering Design” is expected (e.g., mathematical calculations and/or verification simulations): Battery life and power output calculation for SHM. IP68 standard requirements and lightning protection standards, hardware design for battery life monitoring, and software design for remote battery operation including power management strategies such as shutting battery function and analysis of usage. The battery arrangement needs to be verified using simulation and using experimental testing for harsh environmental impact.
The level of support (Time: technical guidance, materials, computing, financial, etc.) for the project. If no financial support will be provided, please offer an estimate of the Materials Cost: Technical guidance 1 hr/week, and funds for acquiring the "approved" bill of materials will be provided by the sponsor