In this work a time-synchronized Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) has been designed and implemented for a realtime Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) system for trains. Channel measurements have been done in the first place on a real operational scenario, and obtained results have been used as inputs for the design of the physical layer of the WSN. A specific Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) MAC layer and a synchronization algorithm have also been developed for allowing a deterministic data collection and synchronized sampling, which are critical aspects in SHM applications. Performance measurements of the WSN have also been done, which have shown maximum sampling synchronization jitter values within 1 μs for sensor nodes belonging the same base station, and maximum jitter values within 2 µs for nodes of different base stations.

In this article we evaluate the possibility of using glass coated magnetic microwires as an alternative to optical fiber devices in structural health monitoring in the railway industry. The effect of applied stress on hysteresis loops of Fe71.80B13.27Si11.02Nb2.99Ni0.92 and Co65.34Si12.00B10.20Cr8.48Fe3.90Mo0.08 microwires has been studied and analyzed. An interpolation function has been obtained relating the coercitivity H c with the applied stress.

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Advances in information and communication technologies provide precision agriculture with more efficient tools for agricultural monitoring systems and the possibility of crop irrigation automation. This paper presents the implementation of a crop field monitoring system based on wireless sensor networks (WSN) with moisture detectors, which are remotely controlled for data collection. The implemented WSN performs information gathering functions from the sensor nodes to the base station. The system is integrated into the internet cloud and together with the hardware and software configuration, adequate energy efficiency is obtained.