Patent 7719416 was granted and assigned to MicroStrain, Inc. on May, 2010 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A method of maintaining a structure includes providing a structure having a component subject to failure. A sensor, a memory and an energy harvesting device are mounted on the structure. The sensor is used and data derived from the sensor logged in the memory, wherein the memory is powered solely with energy derived from the energy harvesting device. The component is replaced if information in the memory shows that the component was subject to damaging usage.