Minimally intrusive strategies for fault detection and energy monitoring

This thesis addresses the need for automated monitoring systems that rely on minimally intrusive sensor arrays. The monitoring techniques employed in this thesis require fewer sensors because they take a different approach to the measurement problem. Specifically, these techniques use the power distribution network in the target system as a power source, a sensor array, and a communications channel. In this "multi-use" approach, the only measurement sources are a set of centrally located electrical transducers (i.e. voltage and current sensors) and a set of remotely located sensors that communicate with a central processing unit via power line modems. In general, these systems determine the status of critical loads or systems using only electrical data. Thus, remotely located sensors are only employed in order to gather information that would be difficult, if not impossible, to obtain electrically. Examples of such quantities include air exchange rates and occupancy levels in individual rooms. This thesis describes the development and application of several critical features of the minimally intrusive monitoring systems described above. First, it presents several model-based methods that make it possible to use electrical data to detect faults in certain mechanical systems.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Cox, Robert Williams, 1979-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Steven B. Leeb and Leslie K. Norford.

• Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/38299

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/38299