Design, development, and evaluation of a tilt and soil moisture sensor network for slope monitoring applications

Abstract

A sensor network consisting of sensors for slope deformation and soil-water content was designed, developed, and evaluated in a miniature slope model. The sensor network is buried vertically underground, and is composed of pipe segments to form a column. Each segment contains a tri-axial accelerometer for tilt measurements and capacitive-type sensors for soil moisture measurement. Measurements taken in each segment is accessed via Controller Area Network (CAN). The CAN master node located at the top of the column transfers the collected data from the slave nodes wirelessly to a base station via a WiFi link. Data was collected, stored, processed and displayed via the Python-based GUI on the base station. The entire system was tested and evaluated on a small-scale slope model. A slope failure was induced and the system was demonstrated to ably measure the inclination and soil moisture content throughout the landslide event.