Method and apparatus for low power, micro-electronic mechanical sensing and processing
First Claim
1. A method of monitoring a structure comprising the steps of:
- collecting a plurality of sensor signals representative of sensed data from a plurality of micro-electrical mechanical sensors, the plurality of micro-electrical mechanical sensors generating sensed data representative of at least shock and vibration;
converting the plurality of sensor signals into digital data;
processing the digital data, wherein the processing includes processing the shock and vibration data for providing shock and vibration saturation points and profile for the structure being monitored;
generating a data communications protocol for communicating the digital data; and
remotely communicating the processed digital data; and
simultaneously and remotely detecting the generated communications protocol having the processed data to determined the occurrence of at least one predetermined condition.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for low-power sensing and processing are provided. A method preferably includes collecting a plurality of sensor signals. The plurality of sensors include sensed data representative of at least shock and vibration. The method also includes converting the plurality of sensor signals into digital data, processing the digital data, generating a data communications protocol for communicating the digital data, and simultaneously and remotely detecting the generated communications protocol having the processed data to determined the occurrence of at least one predetermined condition. An apparatus preferably includes a low-power, data acquisition processing circuit responsive to a plurality of sensor signals representative of at least shock and vibration for acquiring and processing the sensed data. The data acquisition processing circuit preferably includes a plurality of data inputs, an analog-to-digital converter responsive to the plurality of data inputs for converting each of the plurality of sensor signals from an analog format to a digital format, a digital signal processor responsive to the analog-to-digital converter for processing the digitally formatted data, a data communications processor responsive to said digital signal processor for generating and processing data communications, a battery, and a power management controller at least connected to the battery, the digital signal processor, and the data communications processor for controlling power management of the data acquisition processing circuit.
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Citations
40 Claims
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1. A method of monitoring a structure comprising the steps of:
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collecting a plurality of sensor signals representative of sensed data from a plurality of micro-electrical mechanical sensors, the plurality of micro-electrical mechanical sensors generating sensed data representative of at least shock and vibration;
converting the plurality of sensor signals into digital data;
processing the digital data, wherein the processing includes processing the shock and vibration data for providing shock and vibration saturation points and profile for the structure being monitored;
generating a data communications protocol for communicating the digital data; and
remotely communicating the processed digital data; and
simultaneously and remotely detecting the generated communications protocol having the processed data to determined the occurrence of at least one predetermined condition. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13)
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11. A method of monitoring a structure comprising the steps of:
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collecting a plurality of sensor signals representative of sensed data from a plurality of micro-electrical mechanical sensors, the plurality of micro-electrical mechanical sensors generating sensed data representative of at least shock, vibration, and at least one other parameter;
converting the plurality of sensor signals into digital data;
processing the digital data, wherein the processing includes processing the shock and vibration data for providing shock and vibration saturation points and profile for the structure being monitored;
remotely communicating the processed digital data; and
simultaneously and remotely detecting the processed data to determined the occurrence of at least one predetermined condition. - View Dependent Claims (12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. An apparatus for monitoring a structure, the apparatus comprising:
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a plurality of micro-electrical mechanical sensors positioned to sense a plurality of parameters including at least shock, vibration, and at least one other parameter and to provide a corresponding plurality of sensor data signals representative of the plurality of monitored parameters;
a low-power, data acquisition processing circuit responsive to the plurality of sensor signals for acquiring and processing the sensed data said low-power, data acquisition processing circuit including a plurality of data inputs, an analog-to-digital converter responsive to the plurality of data inputs for converting each of the plurality of sensor signals from an analog format to a digital format, a digital signal processor responsive to said analog-to-digital converter for processing the digitally formatted data including processing of shock and vibration data and providing shock and vibration saturation points and profile for a structure being monitored, a data communications processor responsive to said digital signal processor for generating and processing data communications, a battery for providing portable power to said data acquisition processing circuit, and power management controlling means at least connected to said battery, said digital signal processor, and said data communications processor for controlling power management of said data acquisition processing circuit;
a transmitter for transmitting the processed digital data; and
a remote data communications detector communicating with the transmitter for remotely detecting the processed digital data. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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Specification