Smart Fibres Optical Fibre Sensing System installed in Millennium Dome
January 2000
The Mind Zone, part of the Millennium Dome in Greenwich, UK, is one of the first applications of Smart Fibres technology in a civil engineering structure, making it one of the world's most 'intelligent' buildings. Sensors in six key load-bearing areas of the structure continuously report information back to the control centre, from where the information is displayed to the public.
Data is displayed in the form of a colour-coded graphic highlighting the strains in the various locations, scaled from black (unloaded) to red (many people in the zone). The system demonstrated in the Mind Zone will act as a model for future planning and assessment of how structures actually behave in their operating environments, throughout their entire lifetimes. By looking at the state of the structure on an ongoing basis, it will become possible to arrange preventative maintenance, saving costly structural inspection and downtime.