Systems and methods for gesture activation of concrete sensors
A system includes a sensor device for monitoring properties of a building material within which the sensor device can be embedded. The sensor device includes a controller, a memory, one or more sensors connected to the controller for measuring one or more properties of the building material, and a power supply for powering components of the sensor device. The power supply includes a battery and a power regulator. The sensor device includes one or more motion sensors for sensing a movement pattern of the sensor device and determining if the movement pattern matches a known gesture pattern. The system includes a power management subcircuit for activating the sensor device by activating the power regulator to power “ON” components of the sensor device. The power management subcircuit receives an activation signal from the one or more motion sensors if the movement pattern matches the known gesture pattern.
1 . A system, comprising:
a sensor device configured to be embedded in a building material, the sensor device comprising:
one or more motion sensors configured to detect movement of the sensor device and generate motion data;
gesture detection circuitry configured to determine whether the motion data corresponds to a predefined gesture pattern and, in response, generate an activation signal;
a power management subcircuit having an input electrically coupled to the gesture detection 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 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;
where in the microcontroller unit and the one or more sensing components remain unpowered until the power regulator is enabled in response to the activation signal, and
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.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the power management subcircuit comprises an activation switch that is triggered by the activation signal.
3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the microcontroller unit is configured to receive data on the one or more properties of the building material from the one or more sensing components after the sensor device is activated and embedded into the building material.
4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the microcontroller unit is configured to wirelessly transmit data on the one or more properties of the building material to a computing device external to the building material.
5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the computing device is a smartphone, a personal computer, a tablet, a gateway, a wearable computer, or a personal digital assistant.
6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the building material comprises concrete, asphalt, or epoxy.
7 . The system 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.
8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor device further comprises a battery electrically coupled to the power regulator to provide electrical power to the power regulator.