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Sensors Create Smart Infrastructure for Pennsylvania
Article Posted On 4/27/2009
Rebuilding Pennsylvania's infrastructure has been a top priority of the state government. Governor Edward G. Rendell recently proposed $537 million for projects that will rebuild Pennsylvania bridges, address highway and bridge repairs, and fund water, sewer, flood control and dam projects. The Center for Sensed Critical Infrastructure Research (CenSCIR), housed within the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems (ICES), is addressing this need, as well as envisioning the future of infrastructure monitoring and maintenance through the use of sensor technology.
In a February article in Business Week, CenSCIR Faculty Co-director James H. Garrett, Jr. was quoted as saying, "this kind of smart infrastructure isn't going to put concrete into place, but it could help us put it there more efficiently and keep it there more effectively."
This "smart" technology includes wireless sensors embedded in various infrastructure systems, which "could provide real-time feedback on structural integrity," as Garrett points out in a recent Pittsburgh Tribune-Review article. In addition to helping engineers know how best to apply resources to a critical problem, it would allow for better management of infrastructure systems and ultimately, save the government money by providing a more informed and efficient method of maintenance.
CenSCIR's collaborative work with Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC) - a national, independent non-profit organization - and the Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) is an example of this smart infrastructure technology. The project addresses two high priority infrastructure areas: sensors and safety as a part of its instrumental pipeline initiative to improve flaw detection of pipelines and address safety concerns.
CenSCIR is conducting the engineering research required in the project, while CTC is providing logistical and technical input and oversight. This project is being performed under the overall oversight of the NETL. CenSCIR is researching technologies to monitor pipeline delivery integrity and safety concerns, using a network of active sensors and controllers to detect and diagnose defects, leaks, and failures that can then be targeted for specific examination. CenSCIR researchers are developing and using a network of sensors, integrating advanced communications, computing, and decision making for the uninterrupted supervision of pipeline systems.
PITA funding is providing a portion of the required federal matching funding. In addition, previously PITA funded projects by CenSCIR faculty members Irving Oppenheim and Lucio Soibelmen have laid the groundwork for this collaborative research. Executive Director Matthew Sanfilippo states that "PITA funding leverages this project, and it also brings more research dollars to Pennsylvania to allow us to apply our research to the infrastructure needs of the state."
Sanfilippo continues: "This research initiative will help to enable our nation's natural gas infrastructure to be monitored by an active, real-time system, rather than a passive system that cannot react to changing conditions and defects. We hope to leverage promising research from other cyber-physical infrastructure domains and apply it to difficult natural gas pipeline maintenance and management issues."
