Sanei Mahsa, Atcitty Solomon, Moreu Fernando
Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.
Sensors (Basel). 2024 Aug 16;24(16):5308. doi: 10.3390/s24165308.
Sensors have recently become valuable tools in engineering, providing real-time data for monitoring structures and the environment. They are also emerging as new tools in education and training, offering learners real-time information to reinforce their understanding of engineering concepts. However, sensing technology's complexity, costs, fabrication and implementation challenges often hinder engineers' exploration. Simplifying these aspects could make sensors more accessible to engineering students. In this study, the researcher developed, fabricated, and tested an efficient low-cost wireless intelligent sensor aimed at education and research, named LEWIS1. This paper describes the hardware and software architecture of the first prototype and their use, as well as the proposed new versions, LEWIS1-β and LEWIS1-γ, which simplify both hardware and software. The capabilities of the proposed sensor are compared with those of an accurate commercial PCB sensor. This paper also demonstrates examples of outreach efforts and suggests the adoption of the newer versions of LEWIS1 as tools for education and research. The authors also investigated the number of activities and sensor-building workshops that have been conducted since 2015 using the LEWIS sensor, showing an increasing trend in the excitement of people from various professions to participate and learn sensor fabrication.
传感器最近已成为工程领域的重要工具，可为监测结构和环境提供实时数据。它们也正在成为教育和培训中的新工具，为学习者提供实时信息，以加强他们对工程概念的理解。然而，传感技术的复杂性、成本、制造和实施挑战常常阻碍工程师进行探索。简化这些方面可以使工程专业学生更容易接触到传感器。在本研究中，研究人员开发、制造并测试了一种面向教育和研究的高效低成本无线智能传感器，名为LEWIS1。本文描述了首个原型的硬件和软件架构及其用途，以及简化了硬件和软件的新版本LEWIS1-β和LEWIS1-γ。将所提出传感器的性能与一款精确的商用印刷电路板传感器的性能进行了比较。本文还展示了推广工作的实例，并建议采用LEWIS1的新版本作为教育和研究工具。作者还调查了自2015年以来使用LEWIS传感器开展的活动和传感器制作工作坊的数量，结果显示各行各业的人参与和学习传感器制作的热情呈上升趋势。
