Implementation Wireless Sensor Network on

Monitoring the Structure of Buildings Using the

MMA7361 Accelerometer Sensor
Grace La Rosa Sihotang1, Risprady Karokaro2, Yustina Manihuruk3, Paskah Mahulae4
1234
Teknik Elektro, Fakultas Teknik Informatika dan Elektro – Institut Teknologi Del
1
els14010@students.del.ac.id, 2els15005@students.del.ac.id, 3els15026@students.del.ac.id,
4
els14026@students.del.ac.id

Abstract— Buildings have a very important role in human
life. So that when the building is damaged well due to internal
or external factors such as natural disasters that cannot be
predicted will have a huge effect on human life. So to overcome
the above, it will be applied to the use of a wireless sensor
network that will be implemented with the help of the MMA7361
accelerometer sensor, Arduino Uno microcontroller, nRF24L01
transceiver module, Personal Computer (PC), and Delphi 2010
monitoring application, to monitor the condition of building
structures. Where the system will collect all information in the
form of vibration acceleration data obtained from each client
node sent to the server node periodically and displayed
graphically as well as the value of vibration acceleration data on
the Personal Computer (PC) using the Delphi 2010 monitoring
application. And each client is able to transmit vibration
acceleration data obtained from several types of wood, plywood
and concrete building structures to the node server.
Keywords—Building structure, Wireless Sensor Network,
MMA7361 accelerometer sensor, nRF24L01 transceiver
module, Delphi 2010 monitoring
I. INTRODUCTION
Building is one of the most important facilities in human
life, therefore when a building is damaged well caused by
disasters or other factors it will have a huge effect on human
life. So to avoid this, in designing buildings with a safe
structure there must be standardization, building code, and
methodology in designing the building. However, in
designing buildings usually do not pay attention to the
structure of the building during it use, so it can experience
loading and over time can cause a decrease in the quality of
the structure and damage that can’t be predicted. Can be
taken as examples of multilevel buildings where multi-
storey buildings must be designed to withstand loading such
earthquakes, wind and floods. It aims to avoid the loss of
human life and property that has a very large impact on the
human economy.
So, to avoid the things described above, this proposal
will discuss and design the monitoring of the condition of
building structures using the MMA7361 accelerometer
sensor which will be applied with a wireless sensor
network. Wireless sensor network consists of individual
nodes that can interact with the environment by sensing,
controlling, and also communicating the parameters that
have been made. In Indonesia alone the use of sensors in
monitoring is still very minimal and it relies on manual
monitoring using human beings as a monitoring tool.
nRF24L01 transceiver module, Delphi monitoring
application and Perconal Computer (PC). This system will
get data in the form of acceleration of vibrations that can be
analyzed obtained from the structure of the building being
tested.
II. RELATED WORK
2.1. Structure of the building
The structure of the building is a core part of a building
that will transmit the load, the result of the building above
ground. The structure of the building serves as the giver of the
strength and rigidity are needed to prevent the collapse of a
building. Building structure generally consists of a structure
of bottom and top. The structure of the bottom of that question
is the Foundation and the structure of the building is below
ground level, while the upper structure is a structure that is
above ground level such as columns, beams, plates, ladder.
Each component has different functions within a structure.
A reinforced concrete building that floored a lot, is very
vulnerable to collapse if not properly planned. Therefore, it
required an appropriate structure planning and meticulous in
order to meet the criteria of strength (strenght), comfort
(serviceability), safety (safety), and the age of the building
plans (long-term durability) (Hartono, 1999)..
2.2. Wireless Sensor Network
Wireless sensor network is a group of sensors that are
scattered and have the ability to detect the scope of a certain
geographical area or area called the sensor area. In the area of
the sensor there will be many parameters that can be detected.
The sensors used have been designed in such a way that they
are capable of sensing,calculation and communicate with the
administrator, so that they are able to perform the functions of
measurement, observation, and giving feedback on an event
or phenomenon in a particular area, collecting data and
processing data that has been collected. When this wireless
sensor network is connected to a gateway that can access the
internet, the wireless sensor network can be accessed and can
collaborate with other systems. As we can see at figure 2.1 :

After seeing and knowing the problems that have

occurred, a system is proposed that can overcome problems
in buildings, especially in monitoring the condition of the
building structure by implementing it with a wireless sensor Figure 2 1 Ilustration of Wireless Sensor Network
network to monitor the condition of the building structure
using the MMA7361 accelerometer sensor. Where it will be
assisted by several devices such as Arduino Uno,
2.3. Sensor Accelerometer MMA7361 2.5. Transceiver nRF24L01 module
The MMA7361 3 axis accelerometer sensor is an acceleration
The The nRF24L01 is a highly integrated, ultra low power
sensor based on a micromachined capacitive accelerometer.
(ULP) 2Mbps RF transceiver IC for the 2.4GHz ISM
This sensor can "feel" the acceleration experienced by the
(Industrial, Scientific and Medical) band. With peak RX/TX
sensor on 3 axes (XYZ axis). The main feature of this sensor
currents lower than 14mA, a sub μA power down mode,
is that it can be easily connected to a microcontroller in
advanced power management, and a 1.9 to 3.6V supply range,
analog. The acceleration value for each axis is given as an
the nRF24L01 provides a true ULP solution enabling months
analog voltage. This module operates at 3.3V or 5V VCC
to years of battery lifetime when running on coin cells or
voltages so that it can easily be connected to various types
AA/AAA batteries. The Enhanced ShockBurst™ hardware
microcontroller. All pins on the MMA7361 accelerometer
protocol accelerator additionally offloads time critical
sensor are available on the header pins. In this module there
protocol functions from the application microcontroller
is a 3.3V voltage regulator and LED indicator for ease of
enabling the implementation of advanced and robust wireless
operation. Figure 2.2 is Sensor Accelerometer MMA7361 :
connectivity with low cost 3rd-party microcontrollers.

The nRF24L01 integrates a complete 2.4GHz RF transceiver,

RF synthesizer, and baseband logic including the Enhanced
ShockBurst™ hardware protocol accelerator supporting a
high-speed SPI interface for the application controller. No
external loop filter, resonators, or VCO varactor diodes are
required, only a low cost ±60ppm crystal, matching circuitry,
and antenna. For explaining the wireless communication we
will make two examples, the first one will be sending a simple
“Hello World” message from one Arduino to another, and in
the second example we will have a bi-directional
communication between the Arduino boards, where using the
Joystick at the first Arduino we will control the servo motor
at the second
Figure 2 2 Sensor Accelerometer MMA7361 Arduino, and vice versa, using the push button at the second
Arduino we will control the LED at the first Arduino. Figure
2.4. Arduino Uno 2.4 is wireless modul :
Use The Arduino UNO is an open-source microcontroller
board based on the Microchip ATmega328P
microcontroller and developed by Arduino.cc. The board
is equipped with sets of digital and analog input/output
(I/O) pins that may be interfaced to various expansion
boards (shields) and other circuits.The board has 14
Digital pins, 6 Analog pins, and programmable with the
Arduino IDE (Integrated Development Environment) via
a type B USB cable.[4] It can be powered by a USB cable
or by an external 9 volt battery, though it accepts voltages
between 7 and 20 volts. It is also similar to the Arduino
Nano and Leonardo.The hardware reference design is
distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution
ShareAlike 2.5 license and is available on the Arduino
website. Layout and production files for some versions of
the hardware are also available. "Uno" means one in
Italian and was chosen to mark the release of Arduino
Software (IDE) 1.0. Figure 2.3 is Arduino Uno :

Figure 2 4 Wireless Modul nRF24L01

Figure 2 3 Arduino Uno

3. DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION
Start
3.1. Hardware Design

3.1.1. Design of Building Structure Prototype

In the design process the building structure prototype uses Initialize var data
3 types of building construction, namely wood, plywood, and string ax, ay, az, by,
concrete with a length of 150 cm, width 40 cm, height 50 cm. bz
The design of a building structure prototype can be seen in
Figure 3.1.

ComPort read string

data from the server

change string data

to float

Figure 3 1 Design of Building Structure Prototype

Display graph data
3.1.2. Designing Client Nodes
and client 1 node
The main components contained in the client node, namely value and client 2
the MMA7361 accelerometer sensor are used for the detection node
and acquisition of vibration acceleration data, the Arduino
Uno microcontroller is used to process input and data output
data, the nRF24L01 tranceiver module is used to transmit
processed data to the node server and power supply as power
to activate the system at the client node.
End
3.1.3. Designing Server Nodes
Meanwhile, for node servers only use 2 hardware devices,
namely the Arduino Uno microcontroller and the nRF24L01
transceiver module that is connected to the Personal
Computer (PC). The Personal Computer (PC) is used as a 3.2. Hardware Implementation
power supply that is connected using a USB pin to the The hardware implementation consists of the
Arduino Uno. Personal Computer (PC) is also used at the implementation of a building structure prototype and
same time to display the results of the overall program on the the implementation of client nodes and server nodes.
system.
3.2.1. Implementation of the building structure
3.1.4. Designing Monitoring Application Algorithms prototype
The Delphi 2010 monitoring application has a role as a The implementation of the prototype structure of wood,
user interface in displaying vibration acceleration data plywood and concrete buildings can be seen in Figure
sent from each client node, the display in the Delphi 3.2, Figure 3.3, Figure 3.4
2010 monitoring application in the form of graphs and
values. Next is Figure 3.4 designing the Delphi 2010
monitoring application algorithm.

Figure 3.2 Prototype Implementation with wood

Figure 3.3 Prototype Implementation with Plywood

 Table 1 Data sampling on wood

Number Data Node Data Node

of Client 1 (g) Client 2 (g)
Testing Blows
X Y Z X Y Z
Axis Axis Axis Axis Axis Axis

Figure 3.4 Prototype Implementation with concrete table Blow 1 kali 0g 0g 0g 0g 0g 0g

Test

Acceleration of 0 0 0 0 0 0
Vibration (m/s2) m/s m/s m/s m/s m/s m/s
2 2 2 2 2 2

Table 2 Data Sampling on Plywood

Number Data Node Data Node

of Client 1 (g) Client 2 (g)
Testing Blows
X Y Z X Y Z
Figure 3.5 Implementation Position Note Clien and Note server Axis Axis Axis Axis Axis Axis

3.2.2. Note client and note server implementation Blow 1 kali 1,2 0g 1,2 2,5 g 1,2 3,7
The implementation of hardware in this system as Test 5g 5g 1,2 5g 5g
a whole includes all the main components that make up
the system of client nodes and server nodes. Below can 1,2 5g 1,2 1,2
be seen in Figure 3.6 about the implementation of client 5g 1,2 5g 5g
nodes obtained from the design results of each of the 1,2 5g 2,5 g
main components composing client 1 nodes and client
nodes 2. 5g 2,5 g
1,2
5g
Acceleration of 12, 0 49 49 24, 98
Vibration (m/s2) m/s m/s m/s m/s
25 5
m/s 2 2 2 m/s 2

2 2

Figure 3.6 Implementation of node client 1 and client 2

Table 3 Data sampling on concreate table

Number Data Node Data Node

of Client 1 (g) Client 2 (g)
Testing Blows
X Y X X Y Z
Axis Axis Axis Axis Axis Axis
Figure 3.7 Implementation of node server
Blow 1 kali 0g 0g 0g 1,2 5 0g 0g
Test g
3.3. Testing and Analysis
Acceleration of 0 0 0 12, 0 0
The overall test aims to process the data obtained from Vibration(m/s2) m/s m/s m/s m/s m/s
testing the structure of wood, plywood, and concrete 25
2 2 2 m/s 2 2
buildings to be analyzed regarding the conditions of
2
vibration response experienced in each building structure.
Aim to find out about the characteristics of the conditions
of each condition the structure of the building tested by
weighting is seen from processed data or sampling data.
 Table 4 All data sampling [3] Fakultas Ilmu Komputer, Universitas Brawijaya E, I.
M., Sugiarto, B. & Sakti, I., 2009. Rancang Bangun
Type of Node Node Average Sistem Monitoring Kualitas Udara Menggunakan
Building Acceleration Teknologi Wireless Sensor Network (WSN). INKOM,
N Client 1 Client 2
Structur of Vibration Volume III, pp. 90-96.
o
e Acceleratio Acceleratio
. n of n of
[4] Oktalianti, I., 2015. Aplikasi sensor accelerometer
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Vibration
bertingkat via Short Message Service (SMS). Palembang:
1. wood 0 m/s2 12,25 m/s2 6,1 m/s2 Politeknik Negeri Sriwijaya.
[5] Priatama, A. S., 2009. Sistem Pemantauan Kondisi
2. Plywood 61,25 m/s2 171,5 m/s2 116 m/s2 Struktur Bangunan Menggunakan Jaringan Sensor
Nirkabel. Proceeding Seminar Tugas Akhir Jurusan
Teknik Elektro FTI-ITS.
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the authors can analyze that the type of wooden building Struktur Bangunan Dengan Wireless Sensor Network.
structure has an average acceleration of vibration that occurs Jakarta: Sistem Informasi Manajemen.
at 6.1 m / s2. The structure of the plywood building has a
vibration acceleration average of 116 m / s2. Meanwhile, the [7] Saputri, Z. N., 2014. Aplikasi pengenalan suara
structure of concrete buildings has an average of vibration sebagai pengendali peralatan listrik berbasis Arduino
acceleration sampling data of 0 m / s2. All tested at one test. Uno. Malang: Universitas Brawijaya.
[8] SigaLabs, 2016. Sigalabs. [Online]Available at:
4. CONCLUSION http://sigalabs.com/ [Diakses 5 Maret 2016].
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implementation, testing, and system analysis, the authors Republik Indonesia Tentang Bangunan Gedung. Jakarta:
conclude: 1. The system for designing and implementing Presiden Republik Indonesia.
wireless sensor networks in monitoring the condition of
building structures consists of 3 main components namely [10] Ridwan, M., 2014. Evaluasi Perilaku Struktur
client 1 node, client 2 node, and node server consisting of Gedung Bertingkat Lima Menggunakan Kolom Pendek
hardware such as MMA7361 accelerometer sensor, Arduino Akibat Beban Gempa.
Uno microcontroller, nRF24L01 transceiver module and [11]University, O. S., 2013. College of Engineering:
Personal Computer (PC). While the software that works as a Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
monitoring application is the Delphi 2010 monitoring [Online]Available at:
application. 2. Designing and implementing a sensor system http://eecs.oregonstate.edu/education/d
that can acquire data is done by configuring the MMA7361 ocs/accelerometer/MMA7361module.p df [Diakses 10
accelerometer sensor pin with a pin on the Arduino Uno April 2016]
microcontroller. 3. System performance in terms of data
packet delivery time range when the data acquisition process
is much influenced by the size of the distance between the
client node and the server node.
The farther the distance between client nodes and
server nodes, the longer the packet delivery time range. The
farther the position distance between the client node and the
node server with the condition of each device placed different
rooms, there is no average range of data packet delivery time
because all data packets are not sent or error. 4. The
performance of the system to measure the vibration response
level in each type of wood building structure, plywood and
concrete can be analyzed from the average results of the
sampling data obtained from the type of concrete building
structure has the results of the average vibration acceleration
of 0 m / s2 . The structure of the plywood building has a
vibration acceleration average value of 116 m / s2.
Meanwhile, the structure of wooden buildings has an average
vibration acceleration sampling data that occurs at 6.1 m / s2

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