Systems and methods for wireless activation of concrete sensors

1 . A method, comprising:

operating a sensor device configured to be embedded in a building material, the sensor device comprising activation circuitry, a wireless communication interface electrically coupled to the activation circuitry, a power management subcircuit having an input electrically coupled to the activation circuitry and an output electrically coupled to a power regulator, the power regulator having an input electrically coupled to the output of the power management subcircuit, a microcontroller unit having a power input electrically coupled to an output of the power regulator, one or more sensing components electrically coupled to the microcontroller unit, and nonvolatile memory electrically coupled to the microcontroller unit;

receiving, via the wireless communication interface, a wireless activation signal constituting a qualifying external activation condition over a first wireless communication channel;

generating, via the activation circuitry, an activation signal in response to the qualifying external activation condition;

providing the activation signal from the activation circuitry to the power management subcircuit;

enabling, via the power management subcircuit, the power regulator in response to receipt of the activation signal;

providing, via the power regulator, regulated electrical power to the microcontroller unit;

wherein, prior to the power regulator being enabled, the microcontroller unit is unpowered;

measuring, via the one or more sensing components electrically coupled to the microcontroller unit, one or more properties of the building material;

receiving, via the microcontroller unit, measurement data from the one or more sensing components;

storing, via the microcontroller unit, the measurement data in the nonvolatile memory; and

communicating, via the wireless communication interface, the measurement data over a second wireless communication channel different from the first wireless communication channel.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

bringing the sensor device proximate to a computing device prior to the sensor device being embedded in the building material;

transmitting the wireless activation signal from the computing device over the first wireless communication channel to power ON the sensor device;

transmitting one or more beacon signals from the sensor device after the sensor device powers ON;

receiving the one or more beacon signals at the computing device and establishing the second wireless communication channel between the sensor device and the computing device based on the one or more beacon signals; and

wirelessly receiving unique sensor device identification information at the computing device over the second wireless communication channel prior to the sensor device being embedded in the building material.

3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

wirelessly transmitting the unique sensor device identification information from the computing device to a cloud-based computing system to onboard the sensor device to the cloud-based computing system before the sensor device is embedded into the building material.

4 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

wirelessly receiving the measurement data at the computing device after the sensor device is embedded in the building material, wherein the computing device is external to the building material.

5 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the computing device is a smartphone, a personal computer, a tablet, a gateway, a wearable computer, or a personal digital assistant.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first wireless communication channel is a near-field communications (NFC) channel and wherein the second wireless communication channel is a Bluetooth (BLE) communications channel.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the building material comprises concrete, asphalt, or epoxy.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more properties comprise building material strength, relative humidity, temperature, vibration, pH, gas and particle presence, load, and/or acoustic properties.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

establishing the first wireless communication channel between the sensor device and a computing device;

receiving the wireless activation signal at the sensor device over the first wireless communication channel;

powering ON the sensor device in response to the wireless activation signal; and

transmitting the measurement data from the sensor device to the computing device over the second wireless communication channel,

wherein the sensor device is embedded in the building material and the measurement data is indicative of the one or more properties of the building material measured by the one or more sensing components.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the computing device is a handheld or wearable computing device.

11 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the computing device is a cloud-based computing device.

12 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the first wireless communication channel is a near-field communication (NFC) channel.

13 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the building material comprises concrete, asphalt, or epoxy and wherein the sensor device is embedded in the concrete, asphalt, or epoxy.

14 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the measurement data is indicative of building material strength, relative humidity, temperature, vibration, pH, gas or particle presence, load, or an acoustic property.

15 . A system, comprising:

a sensor device configured to be embedded in a building material, the sensor device comprising:

activation circuitry configured to generate an activation signal in response to a qualifying external activation condition;

a wireless communication interface electrically coupled to the activation circuitry and configured to receive a wireless activation signal constituting the qualifying external activation condition over a first wireless communication channel;

a power management subcircuit having an input electrically coupled to the activation circuitry to receive the activation signal and an output electrically coupled to a power regulator, the power management subcircuit being configured to enable the power regulator in response to receipt of the activation signal;

the power regulator having an input electrically coupled to the output of the power management subcircuit and an output configured to provide regulated electrical power;

a microcontroller unit having a power input electrically coupled to the output of the power regulator;

one or more sensing components electrically coupled to the microcontroller unit and configured to measure one or more properties of the building material; and

nonvolatile memory electrically coupled to the microcontroller unit and configured to store data representing the measured one or more properties,

wherein, prior to the power regulator being enabled, the microcontroller unit is unpowered,

wherein, after the power regulator is enabled, the microcontroller unit is configured to receive measurement data from the sensing components and store the measurement data in the nonvolatile memory, and

wherein the wireless communication interface is configured to communicate the measurement data over a second wireless communication channel different from the first wireless communication channel.

16 . The system of claim 15 , further comprising a computing device configured to:

transmit the wireless activation signal over the first wireless communication channel to the wireless communication interface when the sensor device is brought proximate to the computing device prior to the sensor device being embedded in the building material;

receive one or more beacon signals transmitted from the sensor device after the sensor device powers ON;

establish the second wireless communication channel with the wireless communication interface based on the one or more beacon signals, wherein the second wireless communication channel is different from the first wireless communication channel; and

wirelessly receive unique sensor device identification information from the sensor device over the second wireless communication channel prior to the sensor device being embedded in the building material.

17 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the first wireless communication channel is a near field communication (NFC) channel and wherein the second wireless communication channel is a Bluetooth (BLE) communication channel.

18 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the building material comprises concrete, asphalt, or epoxy.

19 . The system of claim 15 , further comprising a computing device configured to receive the measurement data communicated from the wireless communication interface of the sensor device.

20 . The system of claim 19 , wherein the cloud-based computing system is configured to receive unique sensor device identification information from the computing device to onboard the sensor device to the cloud-based computing system before the sensor device is embedded in the building material.