Bio-inspired intelligent sensing materials for fly-by-feel autonomous vehicles

Structural health monitoring (SHM) is a technology that provides automated inspection for assessing and evaluating the health condition of structures. Recently SHM has attracted significant attention in the aerospace and civil infrastructure industries because of its potential to improve operational efficiency, reduce maintenance costs, and enhance the structural reliability in a real-time operation basis. SHM is developing to include multiple types of sensors and even onboard processing for diagnostic and decision making. Advanced manufacturing technologies are utilized enabling integration of sensors, network hardware, and processors into structures with minimal parasitic effects. This is precisely the foundation for developing 'intelligent structures'. This presentation will highlight recent progress of SHM technologies toward creating intelligent structures at Stanford University and also focus on technical challenges in three areas: quantification, validation, and implementation. SHM is involved with not only multidisciplinary engineering fields, but also a paradigm change in design, manufacturing, and maintenance of structures. Successful implementation of SHM will require a close collaborative effort among academia, government and industry.