ONLINE STRUCTURAL CONTROL AND MONITORING GROUP

Advances in technology have led to rapid urban development that has manifested in the form of impressive construction over the years. With the simultaneous degradation of aging infrastructure, asset owners are now posed with the predicament of either retrofitting or decommissioning the structure as they deem fit. While visual inspection at times remains the sole identifier of system anomaly, a wider understanding of the remaining serviceable life of the system can be attained using sensor-based real-time measurements.

OSCAR is a multi-disciplinary research group that focuses on real-time structural health monitoring of built infrastructure. To tackle these challenges, the group assimilates data obtained from deployed sensors, into the condition assessment, diagnostics, and virtualization of engineered systems. This is carried out via a fusion of physics-based models, system identification, damage detection, modal analysis, vibration control, time-series analysis, and machine-learning tools. Our applications span a broad range of structural assets; from more conventional infrastructure (bridges, buildings), to burgeoning sectors of wind energy infrastructure, all the way to vehicle and railway infrastructure condition assessment.

Real-time monitoring is evolving fast but requires normative guidelines to be a part of wider safety frameworks in different sectors. With an aim to better understand the infrastructure around us, we are convinced that a proper selection of hardware and algorithmic suite can lead to a smart, intelligent data-driven infrastructure monitoring system where diagnosis, prognosis, and management no longer depend on mere visual readings.

Our group collaborates actively with eminent researchers from international institutions. At present, we collaborate with the University College Dublin, Ireland, University of Nottingham, UK, University Laval, Canada, and Columbia University, USA. We have also developed strong research collaborations with the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati.