Tecnologie ICT per il MOnitoraggio Strutturale di Costruzioni Antiche basato su Reti di sensori wireless e DrOni

Funded under: PAR-FAS

Start date 26 April 2016     End date 26 October 2018

Website (Italian)

Keywords: Structural Health Monitoring (SHM); Augmented Reality (AR); crack monitoring; cultural heritage preservation; UAVs

The historical buildings of a nation are the tangible signs of its history and culture. Their preservation deserves considerable attention,  being of primary importance from both a  cultural and an economic point of view.

Structural monitoring is a crucial aspect of the management of historical buildings. Indeed, knowing the evolution of relevant data, ensures a correct and precise evaluation of the current building status and allows us to manage and schedule the ordinary and extraordinary maintenance activity properly.

MOSCARDO aimed at contributing to the safety of the historical buildings. The project provided a scalable and reliable Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) system able to operate both during the ordinary condition and emergencies, for the damage evaluation.

In particular, MOSCARDO focused on the study and development of a system, based on innovative computing tools, which integrates the environmental and mechanical data acquired through an IoT network with the images and the context information collected through an Unmanned Autonomous Vehicle (UAV). The images acquired by the UAV are used to build a 3D reconstruction of the ancient structure, showing the exact position of the deployed wireless sensor nodes, thus allowing an operator to dynamically interact with the real-time readings collected by the IoT network.

 

The employed wireless sensor network (including accelerometers, extensometers, thermometers, inclinometers, etc.) was optimized in terms of global cost and environmental impact considering, on one hand, architectural, structural and functional constraints which characterize historical buildings, and, on the other hand, data transmission requirements.

Monitored parameters were defined exploiting computational languages for the simulation of static and dynamic behavior such as NOSA-ITACA, Mady and Code-Aster.

Acquired data, both from sensor networks and UAV, were stored into an advanced system for information processing (called Control and Monitoring Unit).

MOSCARDO monitoring system was tested on some monumental buildings of the Tuscan cultural heritage: Voltone and Fortezza Vecchia (in Leghorn) and Torre Grossa (in San Gimignano).

Signals and Images Lab role in MOSCARDO Project

The research team of the Signal and Images Lab involved in MOSCARDO project focused on:

  • study and development of image-based methods to monitor and evaluate structural defects (i.e. cracks) in the ancient buildings under investigation;
  • study and development of image-based tools for the 3D reconstruction of the ancient buildings under investigation;
  • augmented reality front end design and development.

 

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