Urban manholes play a vital role in supporting underground infrastructure, yet their monitoring is still largely manual, reactive, and often unsafe. Such practices can lead to delayed identification of hazardous gas build-up, unauthorized opening of manhole covers, and unnoticed structural displacement, posing serious risks to both workers and the public. To overcome these challenges, this study presents the design and development of a low-cost, IoT-based real-time manhole monitoring system built around the Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller. The proposed system combines gas sensors for detecting harmful gases with MEMS-based motion sensors to monitor manhole cover movement, enabling continuous tracking of environmental conditions and physical disturbances. Sensor data are processed locally using embedded C/C++ and transmitted through Wi-Fi and GSM communication modules to a centralized monitoring platform. This platform supports real-time data visualization, logging, and automated alert generation. A threshold-based alert mechanism promptly notifies authorized personnel via dashboards and mobile messages, significantly reducing response time and improving safety. The system architecture is designed with a strong emphasis on low power consumption, modularity, and reliable communication, making it suitable for scalable deployment in smart city environments. Experimental evaluation under real-world conditions demonstrates accurate gas detection, quick response to abnormal events, and stable wireless data transmission. These results confirm the practicality and effectiveness of the proposed solution, showing clear improvements in operational safety and maintenance efficiency over conventional inspection methods. Overall, the proposed framework offers a robust and adaptable foundation for intelligent urban infrastructure monitoring, with potential for future enhancements such as predictive analytics and energy-harvesting capabilities in advanced smart city applications.
Keywords: Internet of Things (IoT); Smart City Infrastructure; Wireless Sensor Networks; Embedded Systems; Real-Time Monitoring
How to cite this article:Fulkae AA, Mane PB, Warade N, Real-Time Urban Manhole Monitoring Using Raspberry Pi Pico and Wireless Sensor Networks.. .Int J Drug Deliv Technol. 2026;16(1s): 1120-1128; DOI: 10.25258/ijddt.16. 1120-1128