Team Name
HydraSense
Timeline
Fall 2024 – Spring 2025
Students
- Jennifer Hernandez – Computer Engineering
- Aaron Rios – Computer Science
- Giancarlos Perez – Computer Engineering
- Jealyanis Ramos Borges – Computer Science
- Prasanna Tiwari – Computer Science
- Bibek Wagle – Computer Science
Abstract
The HydraSense Fire Hydrant Monitoring System Prototype is an automated solution designed to monitor the status and performance of fire hydrants in real time. It integrates pressure, flow, and position sensors into fire hydrants, collecting critical data to ensure they are always operational and ready for use. The system reduces the need for manual inspection by providing real-time data through a web-based application. Alerts are generated for maintenance needs, allowing for timely interventions and ensuring public safety. The system was designed with fire departments and water utility teams in mind, providing them with an easy to-use interface for monitoring and managing hydrant health and performance.
Background
HydraSense is a fire hydrant monitoring system which was designed originally to aid the Arlington Fire Department with hydrant maintenance.
Over time, this product shifted to a proof-of-concept, and is now focused on monitoring hydrant pressure, flow and valve status on a model hydrant.
The data collected by our sensors is propagated into the HydraSense website, in which users can observe the levels of the hydrant, download data reports, and view the number of times the fire hydrant levels went below threshold.
Project Requirements
Data Monitoring
- Continuously collects real-time data from integrated water flow and pressure sensors. The system also determines the operational state of each hydrant by monitoring the valve status (open or closed).
Data Transmission
- All sensor data is securely transmitted via cellular module using the MQTT communication protocol, ensuring reliable and efficient delivery to backend.
Web Interface
An interactive city map displaying all connected hydrants.
The HydraSense web portal offers a comprehensive dashboard featuring:
- Real-time data panels for flow rate, pressure, and valve status.
- A live alert feed showing notifications issued during the day.
- Downloadable data reports for historical flow and pressure data.
Design Constraints
Flow/Pressure Reporting
- Real-time server and sensor performance must not corrupt data.
Web Application
- Built as a responsive desktop design.
Power
- Limited power available, must support periodic sampling and transmission
Monitoring
- Must support real-time updates without using excess bandwidth
Engineering Standards
NIST SP 800-61
- Ensures data availability for mapping services through the QGIS platform.
SMTP/TLS/OAuth
- Ensures data transmitted from web app to Gmail notification is secure (not readable by 3rd parties)
W3C/ISO 9241/HTTPS
- Ensures web platforms are compliant with structure, styling and scripting.
- Ensures communication between web application and server is secure.
FCC 47 CFR 15.5
- Ensures data transmission does not cause harmful interference with existing radiators of wireless signals.
TLS/Auth Ensures communication between broker and client is secure, preventing eavesdropping and tampering.
System Overview
The heart of the system is the hardware, which is composed of a set of sensors to read the data, a solar panel and battery system to power up the micro-controller, and a cellular module to transmit the acquired data to the website. The following component is the Server which will be utilized to run subsystems such as Node-Red, InfluxDB and Grafana which in conjunction allow the data to be portrayed to the user. Thus, leading to the third component which is the website, this platform will allow the user to visualize and download the data that is currently being collected.
Results
The HydraSense team was able to create a system which monitors the water levels flowing through a hydrant, as well as the status of its valve. The product itself shifted from a retrofittable piece on the hydrant to a proof-of-concept prototype which handles the functionalities mentioned above. Overall, most customer requirements were met and the system successfully tracks data and makes it available to the user in an efficient manner.
Future Work
For future implementations, the HydraSense team aims to incorporate hydrant barrel monitoring and integrated GPS functionality.
Project Files
Project Charter
System Requirements Specification
Architectural Design Specification
Detailed Design Specification
Poster
