Analysis of the sensor placement for optimal temperature distribution reconstruction

The temperature distribution as a function of time and space is reconstructed over a non-homogeneous media having an arbitrary three-dimensional geometry. This is done by applying an inverse problem to the collected data from optimally placed sensors on the boundary surface of the object under study. Sensor positioning and the choice of the number of sensors are optimized in terms of the resolution of the reconstructed temperature field and the error propagation of the method in case of uncertain measurements. The method can be performed in real time since the major computation burden is performed off-line. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.