Optical fibers that listen to the world
Discover how Distributed Acoustic Sensing turns fiber-optic infrastructure into large-scale sensing systems
TED2021-132178B-I00 founded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/5011000110033, Spain and European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR
Technological innovation is transforming the way we observe and understand our environment.
Today, large volumes of data can be collected and processed to reveal patterns, events, and dynamics that were previously invisible.
Advances in Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, and Machine Learning are accelerating this transformation.
And it’s fascinating that using such a well-known element as optical fiber as a sensor can offer so many advantages.
Indeed, Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) uses optical fiber as a sensor to detect vibrations, sounds, and other physical disturbances along the fiber.
At SMART DAS LAB, we leverage this technology to conduct research using previously deployed fiber-optic networks, enabling the collection of large volumes of sensing data.
We explore its technical potential to improve the automatic interpretation of these signals using Artificial Intelligence and advanced data processing techniques.
Our goal is to uncover patterns and build data-driven models that describe real-world dynamics.
The combination of Distributed Acoustic Sensing and advanced signal processing opens up a wide range of possibilities for observing and understanding physical processes.
At SMART DAS LAB, our current research focuses on two main application areas:
— Smart city monitoring
— Seismic and seismo-volcanic surveillance
These examples illustrate just a small part of the many domains that can benefit from the intelligent use of this technology.
We are currently operating an urban sensing living lab in the city of Granada (Spain) to monitor urban traffic using Distributed Acoustic Sensing.
This initiative is carried out in collaboration with the fiber-optic operator TM Digital and is supported by several national and regional research projects.
Our work focuses on the analysis of sensing data collected from a network of optical fiber cables deployed across the city center.
Using this data, we explore methods for the automatic detection, counting and classification of vehicles and pedestrians, with the goal of developing data-driven models of urban mobility.
SMART DAS LAB is a research team based at the University of Granada (Spain).
Our work aims to bridge the gap between Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) and its real-world applications.
By using optical fiber as a sensor, we listen to the world and transform the signals we capture into meaningful information.
Our ultimate goal is to better understand the dynamics of the world around us and support smarter decisions through data.
Luz García, contact of SMART DAS LAB