Wireless sensor networks have been developed for decades, in particular to control and monitor the integrity of buildings or large civil engineering structures. But whatever the intended application, their deployment is severely limited by their lack of energy autonomy. Most often, sensors are powered by batteries, which have a relatively short lifespan, require costly maintenance, and have an impact on the environment. Another solution is to harvest ambient energy (solar energy, vibrations, heat, etc.). But these energy sources are by their very nature fluctuating, unpredictable and uncontrollable.

To overcome these constraints, researchers from the MINC team (Micro and nano-systems for wireless communications) have developed a remote power supply device based on wireless transfer of radiated electromagnetic power (WPT - Wireless Power Transfer). In other words, power transfer using radiofrequency waves.

As part of the ANR McBIM (Matériaux communicants au service du Building Information Modelling (BIM)) project, wireless, battery-free, remotely powered and remotely controlled sensors have been designed for embedding in reinforced concrete. The aim is to use non-destructive measurements to monitor the health of structures for decades to come.

Read more on CNRS Ingénierie website

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Reference:

Autonomous Industrial IoT for Civil Engineering Structural Health Monitoring.
G. Loubet, A. Sidibé, P. Hérail, A. Takacs, et D. Dragomirescu.
IEEE Internet of Things Journal, publié le 03/10/2023.
https://doi.org/10.1109/JIOT.2023.3321958