Wireless sensing in road structures using passive RFID tags/Juhtmevabade RFID-tehnoloogial pohinevate sensorite kasutamine teekonstruktsioonis

In northern countries several freeze-thaw cycles may occur per day making it especially significant to monitor temperature and water content in road structures. This information is a valuable feedback in performance measurement systems to avoid unsustainable road technologies and as an input by choosing the suitable road design. The way to acquire this data in different layers of the road structure is costly, difficult and time consuming. In this article an idea is presented and preliminary laboratory tests are carried out to use radio frequency identification (RFID) tags with sensors in road structures to measure real-time data about significant parameters throughout the designed lifespan. RFID technology is a relatively new technology in road construction field that has widely spread in intelligent transportation systems (ITS). Because of its benefits, construction and transportation industries are researching and implementing RFID technology to improve data acquiring and storage applications. The results of these tests have proved that RFID tags can be read through different layers and depths of road construction materials. The use of gathered data in road performance measurement systems is proposed. Key words: road structures, data acquisition, sensor networks, radio frequency identification. Infrastruktuur, eriti kvaliteetne teedevork, on iga riigi jaoks strateegiliselt oluline. Sellest soltuvad nii elanikkonna rahulolu, paljude elutahtsate valdkondade toimimine kui ka majanduse areng tervikuna. Seega on moodapaasmatu, et teedeehituses kasutatakse konkreetse paikkonna klimaatilistele tingimustele ja liikluskoormusele vastavaid tehnoloogilisi lahendusi ning materjale. Normdokumentide koostamiseks, millest tulenevad ka vastava piirkonna jaoks soovitatavad tehnoloogiad, on muude parameetrite korval vaja ka vaga tapseid andmeid temperatuuri ja niiskussisalduse kohta teekonstruktsiooni erinevates kihtides. Kaesolevas artiklis on autorid kirjeldanud voimalust kasutada teekonstruktsioonides passiivseid voi poolpassiivseid RFID-kiipe, paigutades need tee erinevatesse kihtidesse. Juhtmevabad kiibid on varustatud sensoritega, mis moodavad temperatuuri ja niiskussisaldust pinnase erinevates kihtides. Toiteallika ja juhtmega lahenduste kasutamist ei pidanud autorid otstarbekaks katsetada, sest kulmakergete ning nihkepingete tagajarjel on juhtmeuhendused varasemates uuringutes ebakindlateks osutunud. Autorid viisid laboritingimustes labi esialgse katsetuste seeria