Development of a Compatible, Low Cost and High Accurate Conservation Remote Sensing Technology for the Hygrothermal Assessment of Historic Walls

Abstract

This article aims to properly assess the hygrothermal properties of walls located in historic buildings, this study discloses the development of a remote sensing technology compatible with an in-situ measurement implemented in Palazzo Tassoni (Italy). As required by the international recommendations adapted to cultural heritage (CH), this monitoring system balances CH conservation, performance aspects and economic costs using an integrated multidisciplinary approach. Electronics for measurement of environmental parameters is composed of sensor measurements, data acquisition system and data storage and communication system. Data acquisition system, equipped with standard modbus-rtu interface, is designed to run standalone and it is based on two cloned single board PCs to reduce the possibility of data loss. In order to reduce the costs, RaspberryPI single board PCs were chosen. These run a C/C++ software based on standard modbus library and designed to implement multi-client server TCP/IP to allow communication with other devices. Storage and communication systems are based on an industrial PC; it communicates with sensor measurements’ system through a modbus-TCPIP bridge. PC runs a Labview software to provide data storage on a local database and graphical user interface to properly see all acquired data. Herein, some sensing options and approaches of measurement are described, unveiling different possible ways of enhancing the retrofit of CH with adapted technology.

Design and Construction of a New Metering Hot Box for the In Situ Hygrothermal Measurement in Dynamic Conditions of Historic Masonries

“…The literature shows two different kinds of in situ tests: (i) test for determining the thermal performance of building elements, in terms of thermal resistance (R-value or R), thermal conductance (C-value or C), or thermal transmittance (U-value or U) [33]; and (ii) hygrothermal monitoring for determining the hygrothermal behaviour of the various wall layers [7,34].…”

Applied Research of the Hygrothermal Behaviour of an Internally Insulated Historic Wall without Vapour Barrier: In Situ Measurements and Dynamic Simulations

“…To perform the in situ monitoring campaigns, authors used a non-commercial setup: they have developed a specifically built-up sensing technology method for the hygrothermal assessment of historic walls [45], later upgraded and tuned [38] to fit the requirements of the HeLLo project [33]. In brief, a low-cost and conservation compatible technology based on temperature (T) and relative humidity (RH) combined sensors (Telaire T9602, Amphenol Thermometrics, Inc. St. Marys, PA, USA) was used to measure the T-RH parameters of the environmental conditions ( Figure 7a)-outdoor, inside the room and inside the box (herein considered the indoor environment), and The newly developed metering boxes (construction technology fully described in [38]) were built from a modular timber structure and provided with wheels, so that they can be (dis)assembled, repositioned and/or hereafter used in other spaces/experiments ( Figure 5).…”

“…These sensors are connected and managed by a data acquisition system based on a master slave configuration [38]. Sensors have a typical temperature accuracy of ±0.5 • C, if T varies between 20-40 • C, or up to ±1 • C if T varies between 0-20 • C. Relative humidity instead has an accuracy of ±2%, when 20 ≤ RH (%) ≤ 80, decreasing up to ±4% if RH varies between 0-20% or 80-100% [45].…”

“…Sensors have a typical temperature accuracy of ±0.5 °C, if T varies between 20-40 °C, or up to ±1 °C if T varies between 0-20 °C. Relative humidity instead has an accuracy of ±2%, when 20 ≤ RH (%) ≤ 80, decreasing up to ±4% if RH varies between 0-20% or 80-100% [45]. Aiming to limit the influence of potential water capillarity absorption at the basis of the wall on the final results, sensors were strategically placed at a minimum height of 1.90 m from the floor.…”

Mobilities in Network Topology and Simulation Reproducibility of Sightseeing Vehicle Detected by Low-Power Wide-Area Positioning System

“…To detect and visualize such mobilities, many electronic tools have been designed and installed on vehicles and other movable equipment [8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. For instance, many kinds of mobile phones include an antenna and a device for global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs) [15][16][17].…”