Biodegradable smart sensor for mesh network applications

A system for monitoring material integrity in a mesh network of biodegradable sensor devices, the system comprising:

• a plurality of biodegradable sensor devices embedded in a material, each biodegradable sensor device comprising a frame formed of biodegradable material, a biodegradable battery, an antenna, an environmental event detector comprising biodegradable material responsive to a change in environmental conditions, and, signal generating circuitry configured to be responsive to detecting an environmental event by broadcasting a signal to other sensor devices in a mesh network and also to re-broadcast signals received from other sensor devices in the mesh network;
• and
• data collection and reduction logic executing in memory of a host server for colleting data from the biodegradable sensor devices;
• wherein the system is configured to
• emit from the environmental event detector of each of the sensor devices in the material, a sonic signal at a specified frequency;
• detect a sonic signal in the environmental event detector of at least one of the sensor devices in the material;
• determine a frequency of the detected sonic signal;
• and,
• broadcast an alert to others of the sensor devices in the mesh network in response to the determined frequency residing outside of an acceptable frequency range indicative of the integrity of the material.

A method for monitoring material integrity in a mesh network of biodegradable sensor devices, the method comprising:

• embedding a plurality of biodegradable sensor devices in a material, each of the biodegradable sensor devices comprising a frame formed of biodegradable material, a biodegradable battery, an antenna, an environmental event detector comprising biodegradable material responsive to a change in environmental conditions, and signal generating circuitry configured to be responsive to detecting an environmental event by broadcasting a signal to other sensor devices in a mesh network and also to re-broadcast signals received from other sensor devices in the mesh network;
• emitting from the environmental event detector of each of the sensor devices in the material, a sonic signal at a specified frequency;
• detecting a sonic signal in the environmental event detector of at least one of the sensor devices in the material;
• determining a frequency of the detected sonic signal;
• and,
• broadcasting an alert to others of the sensor devices in the mesh network in response to the determined frequency residing outside of an acceptable frequency range indicative of the integrity of the material.