Infrastructure Monitoring Pilot Using Fiber as a Sensor
Purdue Research Foundation, in collaboration with industry partners Tilson Infrastructure, Dura-Line, and Luna Innovations, announced a pilot project using fiber as a sensor to monitor community infrastructure.
Overview
The project aims to reduce utility disruptions and damage during both construction and the lifetime of the assets. This pilot project has successfully deployed fiber sensing technology in existing conduit across fiber cable used for data communication to monitor and study activity along existing roadways. By enabling construction companies and utility asset owners in the right-of-way to monitor roadways, electric cables, water & gas pipelines and other physical structures, new fiber or utility networks can be deployed while avoiding costly slowdowns. In addition, these existing rights-of-way can be continuously monitored to provide valuable operational, safety, and security insights over time.
Purdue Research Foundation will provide use of the Discovery Park District at Purdue, a 400-acre, mixed-use development adjacent to the university’s campus as an environment for real world testing and evaluation of the technology. Troy Hege, vice president of innovation and technology for Purdue Research Foundation said, “The Discovery Park District is a terrific Lab to Life environment for advancing smart city innovation and education in partnership with industry, faculty, and students. The fiber sensor project is a great example of how the Lab to Life environments can help advance innovation for commercial application.”
Challenge
Many traditional tools used to detect utilities have their own setbacks or limitations in addition to being costly to operate or maintain. Cameras have a limited distance range, satellite imagery is expensive, aerial surveillance is not consistent, and all require that you can see the utilities. Anytime construction activities occur, these risks are all considered, but accidents do happen, sometimes because of inadequate as-builts or lack of adherence to protocols such as 811 “Call Before You Dig”. When working with Smart City networks like in the Discovery Park District, it is important to demonstrate and validate a solution that allows for faultless network expansion. This is critical on a campus that is constantly undergoing new construction and expansion.
Solution
Tilson Infrastructure and Dura-Line, along with the fiber sensing technology provider Luna Innovations, sought to demonstrate that broadband and utility networks and expansions that used optical fiber could be both protected and expedited with acoustic detection – thus avoiding expensive fiber cuts. At the same time, this technology can provide right-of-way monitoring for other civil engineering needs. The components of the Luna system deployed include existing fiber cable in conduit, an interrogator that interprets real-time signals from the telecommunications fiber, and a processor with software that analyzes the signal for both alerting and classification. This is an early, campus-wide use case of proactive right-of-way monitoring with the added benefit of real-time monitoring of “dynamic infrastructure”. The relationship between roadways, rights-of-way, and broadband seamlessly benefits each element with this novel multi-use capability while improving conditions for the community.
We Can Help
Tilson Infrastructure
Tilson Infrastructure builds, owns, and operates fiber networks on a wholesale basis to support retail internet providers in campus environments and commercial/industrial developments. Their creative financing and leasing models can accommodate a wide variety of use cases to drive commercialization and innovation. Tilson Infrastructure also develops poles and towers as elemental infrastructure, to support carrier and internet service provider networks. They aggressively focus on providing customers with lower costs by combining or decoupling asset classes as needed. Email contactus@tilsoninfrastructure.com to learn more about current and upcoming projects.
Dura-Line
Dura-Line continuously strives to bring more value to customers via innovative thought leadership relative to connectivity, infrastructure design, and utilization. This multi-use capability simply builds upon the novel FuturePath conduit solution that already exists in that multiple MicroDucts are available in one over-sheath. This inherently protects the permanent pathways for upgrades, changes, and leasing in addition to the original
communication purpose.
Orbia’s Connectivity Solutions business, Dura-Line, is a leading manufacturer and distributor of telecommunications conduit, cable-in-conduit, and other high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and connectivity infrastructure solutions that serve telecommunications, transportation, and network electrical markets. Visit www.duraline.com or email moreinfo@duraline.com.
Luna Innovations, Inc.
Luna Innovations is dedicated to enabling the future with fiber. As the world’s leading fiber optic sensing technology provider, our mission is to enhance the safety, security, and connectivity of people by leveraging our expertise in fiber optic-based sensing technology and the information it provides. Visit www.lunainc.com for more information.
About Purdue Research Foundation
Purdue Research Foundation supports Purdue University’s land-grant mission by helping the university improve the world through its technologies and graduates. Established in 1930, PRF is a private, nonprofit foundation. The foundation helps patent and commercialize Purdue technologies, and builds places to encourage innovation, invention, investment, commercialization, and entrepreneurship. For more information about our real-world test bed environments and strategic partnerships visit www.lab2life.org.