Sensors

Camera, sensor, drone data lights up disaster response

ALERTCalifornia’s network will provide actionable natural disaster data for public safety agencies and researchers responding to wildfires, floods, landslides and other climate-driven events.

  • By Kaitlyn Levinson

How sports data can help public safety agencies up their game

Technology originally developed for athletes can help public safety agencies to track first responders’ performance during training to sharpen real-life mission efficiency.

  • By Kaitlyn Levinson

City pilots sensors that track street activity, detect conflicts

The devices will collect data on road users’ speed, turning movements and modes and paths of travel to inform safety initiatives and city planning.

  • By Kaitlyn Levinson

IoT network insights drive smart city planning

A cloud-enabled sensor network helps city officials meet resident needs and collaborate with neighboring communities.

  • By Kaitlyn Levinson

Seismologists can’t predict an impending earthquake, but longer term forecasts and brief warnings after one starts are possible

Earthquake prediction technology is still a farfetched idea that, if ever realized, may even complicate disaster response plans.

  • By Harold Tobin

Connected vehicle data can improve traffic safety

Information gathered from vehicle sensors can efficiently inform decisions about road safety strategies.

  • By Chris Teale

AI, sensors enhance wildfire detection

A pilot program in Oregon’s Willamette Valley will test how well artificial intelligence-enabled sensors can identify and characterize wildfires, which will help with responder resource allocation and boost community resilience.

  • By Kaitlyn Levinson

Urban heat map reveals priority spots for cooling efforts

Citizen scientists in Milwaukee collected air temperature and humidity data to help state officials focus where heat prevention efforts are most needed.

  • By Kaitlyn Levinson

Maine’s 3D-printed wood-fiber home

The recyclable, 3D-printed homes could help fill the housing gap while advancing sustainable manufacturing.

  • By Kaitlyn Levinson

Faster, scalable triage for mass casualty incidents

DARPA is challenging innovators to develop advanced sensor and algorithm technology that can quickly assess the extent of an injury.

  • By Kaitlyn Levinson

Smartphone sensor networks monitor bridge integrity

The resulting data could help decrease inspection and maintenance costs while increasing bridges’ lifetimes.

  • By Kaitlyn Levinson

E-tongue tastes water for contaminants

Researchers from the University of Massachusetts Lowell are piloting a handheld, cloud-connected electrochemical sensor that quickly tests tap water for contaminants.

  • By Susan Miller
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Early warning system pinpoints flooded roads in some states

Nearly a dozen states are using real-time, hyper-local monitoring to assess potential flooding at specific bridges or roads.

  • By Jenni Bergal, Stateline

Low-cost sensors are helping communities find gaps in air quality data

Portable air sensors are helping citizen-scientists living near fracking or industrial operations collect data on volatile organic compounds -- pollutants not tracked by EPA monitors.

  • By Diana Kruzman, Grist

States use road sensors to combat treacherous ‘tire carcasses’

Sensors embedded in the pavement ahead of weigh stations alert inspectors if a truck has flat, underinflated or mismatched tires that could make it a danger on the road.

  • By Jenni Bergal, Stateline

DIY guide to installing low-cost flood sensors

After sensors placed in flood-prone areas began collecting data accurate enough reduce flood risks, officials realized the setup could be adapted to any setting.

  • By GCN Staff

Fiber-optic internet cables could monitor earthquakes

A study provides new evidence that the same optical fibers that deliver high-speed internet and HD video to our homes could one day double as earthquake monitors.

  • By Jim Erickson

A 'living lab' for connected vehicles

A public-private partnership in Georgia promises new insights on the infrastructure and data that smart roadways will require.

  • By Stephanie Kanowitz

It’s not easy to give a robot a sense of touch

Understanding the physical mechanisms of touch sensing in the biological world provides great insights when it comes to designing the robotic equivalent, a smart skin. But a significant barrier for the development of smart skin is the electronics required.

  • By Ajay Pandey and Jonathan Roberts

Sensor could speed earthquake response

Researchers have found a way to provide reliable information about how much damage a building has sustained in an earthquake, making it easier and faster for responders to assess a building's safety and reoccupation prospects.

  • By Susan Miller

AF Research Lab pushes implants for biomonitoring

The Air Force Research Lab and a biosensor startup have developed an implanted sensor that would allow medical personnel to continuously monitor troops for indications of a potential illness.

  • By Susan Miller