Periodic Reporting for period 2 - SLAM-DAST (Smart LightwAve Multi-modal Distributed Acoustic Strain and Temperature sensor (SLAM-DAST))
Reporting period: 2022-07-01 to 2023-09-30
This project transversally targets a huge variety of consumer and industrial sensing applications though a distributed sensing technology that can become a widespread nerve system in smart city environments, smart home/household monitoring and utility and services distribution.
SLAM-DAST goal is to develop, prototype and demonstrate, both in civil/industrial and especially in household/smart-city case studies, a new, cost-effective, Smart LightwAve Multi-modal Distributed Acoustic Strain and Temperature photonic sensing system (SLAM-DAST), which will integrate: - Distributed Temperature and mechanical deformation (Strain) Sensing (DTSS) and - Distributed Acoustic vibrations optical Sensing (DAS).
Adding sensors makes “smart” homes, household and infrastructures supporting the everyday life of millions of consumers (power, water, gas, transportation, urban) and brings new advantages by optimizing the usage of the resources, reducing wastes, preventing accidents, improving health, reducing social costs and saving on maintenance and repair.
Conventional electronic sensors have open issues (i.e. installation costs & time, power supply, communication range, reliability, durability, …) that at present prevent a quick diffusion of the “smart” home & city concepts. This project solves the open issues by delivering the product SLaM-DAST, a new disruptive interrogator equipment that can turn existing optical fibre networks into millions of sensors for SOUNDS, TEMPERATURE and DEFORMATION and fill a larger gap towards the mass-adoption of smart cities and smart infrastructures.
In addition, SLaM-DAST solves the open issues of many “smart infrastructure” applications:
- any optical fibre immediately becomes an array of thousands costless passive sensor (no power supply);
- allows urban range coverage (10-100km range) and meter-level granularity (1-10m resolution);
- is intrinsically safe & explosion proof (no sparks or overheat even if damaged);
- is immune from interferences, high voltage, strong magnetic fields & lightening;
- ensures long-term durability because the fibre is extremely resistant to corrosion, water, moisture & chemicals.
SLAM-DAST goal is to develop, prototype and demonstrate, both in civil/industrial and especially in household/smart-city case studies, a new, cost-effective, Smart LightwAve Multi-modal Distributed Acoustic Strain and Temperature photonic sensing system (SLAM-DAST), which will integrate: - Distributed Temperature and mechanical deformation (Strain) Sensing (DTSS) and - Distributed Acoustic vibrations optical Sensing (DAS).
Adding sensors makes “smart” homes, household and infrastructures supporting the everyday life of millions of consumers (power, water, gas, transportation, urban) and brings new advantages by optimizing the usage of the resources, reducing wastes, preventing accidents, improving health, reducing social costs and saving on maintenance and repair.
Conventional electronic sensors have open issues (i.e. installation costs & time, power supply, communication range, reliability, durability, …) that at present prevent a quick diffusion of the “smart” home & city concepts. This project solves the open issues by delivering the product SLaM-DAST, a new disruptive interrogator equipment that can turn existing optical fibre networks into millions of sensors for SOUNDS, TEMPERATURE and DEFORMATION and fill a larger gap towards the mass-adoption of smart cities and smart infrastructures.
In addition, SLaM-DAST solves the open issues of many “smart infrastructure” applications:
- any optical fibre immediately becomes an array of thousands costless passive sensor (no power supply);
- allows urban range coverage (10-100km range) and meter-level granularity (1-10m resolution);
- is intrinsically safe & explosion proof (no sparks or overheat even if damaged);
- is immune from interferences, high voltage, strong magnetic fields & lightening;
- ensures long-term durability because the fibre is extremely resistant to corrosion, water, moisture & chemicals.
During the first and second project periods, the technical activities have been were focused mainly in the development of integrated sensor equipment and the related IT hardware and software, while the management, dissemination and exploitation activities have been focused on the project start-up and monitoring (agreements, kick-off meeting etc.), in the creation and update of project website, in the creation and update of market uptake support web platform, in carrying out the exploitation an dissemination plan, in promotion activities and in involvement of external exploitation partners as expected by the description of actions. Some demo trial have also been carried out on second reporting period, and elaboration of standardization guidelines has also been acheived.
The sensor development activity is encompassed in Workpackage 2, and development of industrial prototype in Workpackage 3. In WP 2 (Technical maturation), the SLaM-DAST sensor system is designed and developed to achieve the technical improvements required for market uptake, reliability improvement and cost reduction in mass replication. In subsequent WP3 (Product Industrialization), performance tests are carried out, and an optimized SLaM-DAST version for industrial manufacturing is being delivered.
The sensor development activity is encompassed in Workpackage 2, and development of industrial prototype in Workpackage 3. In WP 2 (Technical maturation), the SLaM-DAST sensor system is designed and developed to achieve the technical improvements required for market uptake, reliability improvement and cost reduction in mass replication. In subsequent WP3 (Product Industrialization), performance tests are carried out, and an optimized SLaM-DAST version for industrial manufacturing is being delivered.
Distributed optical fiber sensors (DOFS) are a pervasive lightwave technology that enables measurements of physical (as well as chemical) environmental parameters such as temperature, deformation (strain), pressure and sound (acoustic vibrations) along optical fibers for attaining a “virtual sensor” with thousands of different sensing points.
DOFS, in particular those related to temperature, strain and vibrations, have an extremely large number of applications in households, smart cities, industrial and civil structures simply using one or more sensing fibre cables installed along the assets/homes to be monitored and an interrogator equipment to detect and measure temperature, strain and vibrations individually at any cable point.
SLaM-DAST technical objectives are to optimize, industrialize and deliver true multi-modal fibre sensing by integrating two different technologies in the same equipment, i.e. Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) exploiting Rayleigh scattering together with Distributed Strain and Temperature Sensing (DSTS) exploiting optical Brillouin scattering. This project can then transversally target a large variety of consumer and industrial sensing applications though a distributed sensing technology that can become a widespread nerve system in smart city environments, smart homes/household monitoring and utility and services distribution, trying to fill the gap towards the mass-adoption of smart cities and smart infrastructures.
SLaM-DAST is based on a technology that combines Brillouin analysis and phase-Sensitive reflectometry to create a “sensor” made of light pulses that travels along a fibre and reads it individually at any point, bringing a novel unique value proposition:
- distributed sensing: any point of multi-km cables becomes an independent sensor;
- works on standard telecom fibres, i.e. already installed in urban networks, cutting installation cost and time;
- multi-modal sensing: measures multiple physical parameters (heat, strain, sounds) higher flexibility, wider application range, more reliable anomaly detection using a cross-correlation between different parameters.
SLaM-DAST market exploitation will fully cover the segmentation of the target market both geographically and by user application thanks to the new value proposition, a co-selling synergy approach, and a captive market take-off, thanks to a highly skill and complementary consortium of industrial and academic partners.
DOFS, in particular those related to temperature, strain and vibrations, have an extremely large number of applications in households, smart cities, industrial and civil structures simply using one or more sensing fibre cables installed along the assets/homes to be monitored and an interrogator equipment to detect and measure temperature, strain and vibrations individually at any cable point.
SLaM-DAST technical objectives are to optimize, industrialize and deliver true multi-modal fibre sensing by integrating two different technologies in the same equipment, i.e. Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) exploiting Rayleigh scattering together with Distributed Strain and Temperature Sensing (DSTS) exploiting optical Brillouin scattering. This project can then transversally target a large variety of consumer and industrial sensing applications though a distributed sensing technology that can become a widespread nerve system in smart city environments, smart homes/household monitoring and utility and services distribution, trying to fill the gap towards the mass-adoption of smart cities and smart infrastructures.
SLaM-DAST is based on a technology that combines Brillouin analysis and phase-Sensitive reflectometry to create a “sensor” made of light pulses that travels along a fibre and reads it individually at any point, bringing a novel unique value proposition:
- distributed sensing: any point of multi-km cables becomes an independent sensor;
- works on standard telecom fibres, i.e. already installed in urban networks, cutting installation cost and time;
- multi-modal sensing: measures multiple physical parameters (heat, strain, sounds) higher flexibility, wider application range, more reliable anomaly detection using a cross-correlation between different parameters.
SLaM-DAST market exploitation will fully cover the segmentation of the target market both geographically and by user application thanks to the new value proposition, a co-selling synergy approach, and a captive market take-off, thanks to a highly skill and complementary consortium of industrial and academic partners.