Sensor Web
Decontamination of a building after an anthrax release is typically done with chlorine dioxide gas. To maintain effectiveness, the gas concentration, temperature, and humidity throughout the building must be maintained within narrow ranges. Equipped with chlorine dioxide, temperature, and humidity sensors, Sensor Web pods can be efficiently and cost-effectively deployed in a building to monitor the physical conditions and chemical concentrations in real time over the Internet. The communication packages on the pods automatically organize themselves into a wireless network, providing a thinking infrastructure for the sensors they carry. The pods have been deployed for up to 18 months without maintenance using embedded solar cells to recharge the onboard batteries. Live environmental data from current field deployment site that has been operating for over three years is available at: http://caupanga.huntington.org/swim/.
Users in New Orleans and the San Francisco Bay Area field-tested two different Sensor Web versions in 2006 under harsh real-world conditions. SensorWare Systems has licensed the technology from California Institute of Technology/Jet Propulsion Laboratory and is commercializing it for the defense, public safety and agriculture markets.
Fifteen pods and 8-ClO2 sensors deployed to New Orleans in January 2006 and were used by a leader in ClO2 decontamination conducting mold and mildew remediation work in buildings in the hurricane-affected area. Eight Sensor Web pods with chlorine dioxide sensors were deployed in the structure in about 20 minutes. In contrast to traditional sampling, the Sensor Web pods provide measurements at discrete points throughout the building in real time. The screenshot of the computer display below shows updates for each pod every 30 seconds for temperature, humidity and chlorine dioxide concentration for a typical 5-hour decontamination run. Benefits recognized by the field operators include rapis, real-time access to the data; spatially distributed data; trending of the data to get better control over gas flow and fans; replacing the tubing and wired temperature and humidity sensors currently used; and system robustness.
The Urban Search and Rescue Sensor Web was deployed in May and June 2006 as a 10-pod system with integrated sensors for air temperature, humidity, light, gas (oxygen, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, and explosive limits), and tilt to detect shifts in the structure indicative of progressive collapse. The gas sensors are interactively set at the OSHA limits for confined space entry, and the tiltmeters go into alarm for static tilts of more than 2.3 degrees. Measurements are taken synchronously across the system every 30 seconds. A full user interface runs on a laptop computer, demonstrating its flexibility and utility across a range of planned and unexpected alarm conditions. The system was also incorporated in a week-long training class (including a 2-day collapsed structure exercise), giving the system broad exposure to FEMA teams across the country. Additional information and ordering details are available at http://www.SensorWareSystems.com.