Comparison of different low-cost sensors for structural health monitoring

Recently, the need for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) and inspection is growing as a result of the increasing age of the structural stock worldwide. SHM includes bringing into use a sensor or an array of sensors into an engineered structure. This paper evaluates the practical aspects to consider when choosing different low-cost sensors for using in a SHM application. For this reason, a microcontroller (Arduino) with attached sensors (Ultrasonic, Laser, Gyroscope, Accelerometer, Temperature-humidity, SD-module) has been used throughout different controlled ambient situations and experiments. During the sensor installation and data acquisition, some issues related to the Arduino codes and position of the sensors arise. In this article solutions for tackling faced problems have been presented for achieving an efficient way of using these electronic devices. Their data have been collected to assess and compare their tolerances as well as advantages and disadvantages of their use, cost among them. The information from this article could be used either to choose the appropriate sensors either for static or for dynamic Structural System Identification (SSI).The authors are indebted to the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness for the funding pro-vided through the research project BIA2017-86811-C2-1-R directed by José Turmo and BIA2017-86811-C2-2-R, directed by Jose Antonio Lozano-Galant. All these projects are funded with FEDER funds. Authors are also indebted to the Secretaria d’ Universitats i Recerca de la Generalitat de Catalunya for the funding provided through Agaur (2017 SGR 1481). It is also to be noted that funding for this re-search has been provided for MR. SEYEDMILAD KOMARIZADEHASL by Agencia Estatal de Inves-tigación del Ministerio de Ciencia Innovación y Universidades grant and the Fondo Social Europeo grant (PRE2018-083238).Postprint (published version