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New 'smart bricks' are wired to signal buildings' structural problems.

Smart bombs. Smart drugs. Smart cards. And now … smart bricks. Equipped with electronic sensors, these clay-fired building blocks could make homes and office towers far more "intelligent" than today's versions - and, quite possibly, safer.

For example, smart-brick technology might have helped firefighters change their rescue tactics as the World Trade Center teetered toward collapse on 9/11. The technology also could provide early warnings for hidden stresses, such as those that caused a Paris airport terminal to fall down in May. It might broadcast hidden damage in the aftermath of an earthquake or from floods from a storm such as hurricane Charley.

The difference between a regular brick and a smart brick is a compartment on one side of the smart brick. Inside, researchers have stuffed advanced wireless electronics - sensors, signal processors, a wireless communication link, and a battery, all packaged in one compact unit.

The sensors are designed to monitor a building's temperature, vibration, and movement. They send the information wirelessly to a remote computer.

Several of the bricks embedded at different locations in a building could act as a kind of network, working together to provide a picture of the overall stability of the structure. This information would be vital to firefighters battling a blaze or to rescue workers determining the soundness of an earthquake-damaged structure.

Even in the absence of a disaster, building managers and even homeowners could use the data to manage and repair buildings. For example, the data could pinpoint for managers where foundations need to be reinforced or walls replaced. Homeowners could tailor heating and air conditioning throughout a house for maximum energy efficiency.

Source: csmonitor