Skip to content
A4 civilengineering
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Education
  • Community
  • Thought
  • Ongoing Happenings
  • Contact Us
Menu Close

Blog

Home » Ongoing Happenings » Concrete Sensors: A Technology Still in Its Infancy
Concrete Sensors: A Technology Still in Its Infancy
Under ideal situations, concrete’s psi strength depends a lot on time. Since ideal situations are few and far between, let’s take a look at a young technology that’s taking its first steps at saving contractors time and money.

Contractors can utilize a concrete sensor to gain inside knowledge of what exactly is happening in their concrete, like a health monitor or a Fitbit stuck inside producing vital readouts of the inner workings of the mix reporting on temperature, and analyzing data to estimate maturity levels.

The placement of a concrete sensor device is traditionally anchored or tied to the reinforcement in an array providing data back to contractors. This data can then be analyzed, and a few conclusions can be estimated based on the results. Similar to the seemingly uncountable sensors utilized in today’s modern vehicles, the concrete sensor works by detecting data and sending it to a computer for analysis. Where the vehicle sensors grab information on temperature and pressures (and more) to a more centralized “brain,” the concrete sensor works in a similar fashion. However, the technology is still young in construction.

“We obviously feel that there should be more sensors, we think it’s not only an opportunity to improve quality, but more importantly, you can use the data to move faster, and become more efficient,” says Brendan Dowdall, director of concrete sensors at Hilti. “There’s a lot of opportunity for growth and improvement, both on the technology and on the customer side.”

Dowdall began working with concrete sensors back in 2015 co-founding a startup company focused on sensor technologies. They finally addressed the market two years later and were acquired by Hilti in the March of 2020— roughly a week before “the shutdown.”

One of the biggest changes Dowdall has seen has been within the hardware industry. Originally, if you wanted to build hardware (i.e. a concrete sensor), you would have to become a silicon manufacturer. The last few decades have seen more standardization of how hardware components are manufactured. “At the risk of oversimplifying it,” he explains, “it’s a little like buying off the shelf. Then, it’s up to you (he means the manufacturer here) to sort of put those parts and pieces together.” This moves the burden of expertise away from manufacturing electronics to implementation. These changes adjusted the question from how to manufacture, how to scale manufacturing or the development of high-tech hardware in an economical way towards the market and customer side. For Dowdall, it was now “can we identify a problem that we can address…with a minimum viable product and then in a scalable way. That was the enabling event that got us into it and made it seem reachable as a startup.”

Throughout the years, Dowdall’s team had a number of hurdles to figure out, like the engineering to protect the electronics, electrical issues in how to get wireless signals through the concrete, as well as the design on how to attach it to rebar. And, of course, how to turn it on.

“One of the innovative things, I think, was use a photosensor to turn the sensor on.” Hilti’s concrete sensors (the HCS-T2, HCS-TH1, and HCS T1) are initialized when a contractor takes the product out of the package, essentially putting the device into a state of readiness. Then, once covered by concrete and returned to the dark, the sensor begins capturing data.

As one of the first companies to introduce a fully wireless sensor on the market roughly six years ago, Giatec’s Aali Alizadeh, CTO and co-founder at Giatec, started in civil engineering and materials. Over the past decade, the company has been leading towards technology development and product design. “We’ve always stayed true to our core value proposition of removing the hassle from jobsites,” says Alizadeh. “Construction companies, technicians, and labs want to get things done as easily as possible.”
Read More
www.forconstructionpros.com

Read more articles

Previous PostUtah engineers make a 3D model of BYU’s campus
Next PostFlorida Hotel Taps IoT to Give Guests Wellness Boost

You Might Also Like

Read more about the article Smart laser cutter system detects different materials

Smart laser cutter system detects different materials

August 30, 2021
Read more about the article New Smart Cement Has Self-sensing, Self-healing Properties

New Smart Cement Has Self-sensing, Self-healing Properties

November 20, 2021
Read more about the article UK employees want to return to their workplace for their mental wellbeing 

UK employees want to return to their workplace for their mental wellbeing 

February 2, 2022

Archives

  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021

Categories

  • 3D Printing
  • Air Quality
  • Architecture
  • Automation
  • BIM
  • Civil Software
  • Computer Vision
  • Constrcution Site
  • Digital Twin
  • Disaster
  • Earthquake
  • Edu Resource
  • Environmental
  • FreeCourse
  • Geotechnical Engineering
  • GIS
  • Industry News
  • Intelligent Transportation System
  • IOT
  • Market Analysis
  • Project Management
  • Remote Sensing
  • Sensors
  • Smart City
  • Smart Home
  • Smart Home/Building
  • Smart Materials
  • Structural Engineering
  • Structural Health Monitoring
  • Transportation
  • Uncategorized
  • Urban Planning

Recent Posts

  • Kontrol Technologies is in the thick of the commercial building upgrade supercycle
  • I-Bhd, China Mobile team up to build Malaysia’s first green smart building
  • FedEx launches AI-powered sorting robot to drive smart logistics
  • 8 trends shaping cities in 2022
  • DC joins growing list of cities requiring new buildings to include EV parking
A4 civilengineering
©2021 Privacy policy
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Education
  • Community
  • Thought
  • Ongoing Happenings
  • Contact Us

Enjoying the contents?

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter