Corridor-based Highway Bridge Monitoring and Control using Cyber Physical System Architectures Poster.pdf

The goal of this project is to create a scalable and robust cyber-physical system (CPS)
framework for the observation and control of the functional interdependencies between bridge
structures (stationary physical systems) and trucks (mobile physical agents). A CPS framework
(Figure 1) is being developed to monitor and control trucks within a single highway corridor to
manage the imposed loads and the consumption of structural life by trucks on highway
infrastructure including bridges. The framework begins with the installation of wireless sensing
networks on bridges along a single highway corridor to collect environment and operational
condition (EOC) data and truck-induced bridge response data. Wireless bridge monitoring
systems aggregate their data in a local NoSQL database repository before being pushed via
cellular link to a NoSQL database hosted in the cloud. A network of traffic cameras installed
along the corridor are also utilized to provide real-time feeds of traffic at each instrumented
bridge; computer vision algorithms extract trucks for identification of their type, lane
assignment, and speeds which is pushed to the cloud-based NoSQL server. As heavy trucks
move through the corridor, they are tracked and bridge responses associated with each truck are
recorded. The CPS framework supports the analysis of truck-bridge interaction to provide a basis
from which the health of bridges can be assessed over time. Furthermore, the CPS framework
offers a direct means of triggering the monitoring activities across the entire corridor to
maximize the value of information derived from recorded truck load events given the limited
resources (e.g., energy, bandwidth) available with each bridge wireless sensor network. Finally,
models of truck-bridge interaction serve as the basis for direct control of truck loads to minimize
the consumed life associated with each truck load event. CPS-based control including truck
drive parameters (e.g., lane assignment, speed) and feedback control using a reactive mass
actuator on the truck trailer are being developed. Two highway bridges including the Newburg
Road and Telegraph Road Bridges along the I-275 highway corridor in southeast Michigan are
being used as a validation platform.