Energy harvesting concepts for small electric unmanned systems

Abstract

In this study, we identify and survey energy harvesting technologies for small electrically powered unmanned systems designed for long-term (>1 day) time-on-station missions. An environmental energy harvesting scheme will provide long-term, energy additions to the on-board energy source. We have identified four technologies that cover a broad array of available energy sources: solar, kinetic (wind) flow, autophagous structure-power (both combustible and metal air-battery systems) and electromagnetic (EM) energy scavenging. We present existing conceptual designs, critical system components, performance, constraints and state-of-readiness for each technology. We have concluded that the solar and autophagous technologies are relatively matured for small-scale applications and are capable of moderate power output levels (>1 W). We have identified key components and possible multifunctionalities in each technology. The kinetic flow and EM energy scavenging technologies will require more in-depth study before they can be considered for implementation. We have also realized that all of the harvesting systems require design and integration of various electrical, mechanical and chemical components, which will require modeling and optimization using hybrid mechatronics-circuit simulation tools. This study provides a starting point for detailed investigation into the proposed technologies for unmanned system applications under current development.

Energy Harvesting for Structural Health Monitoring Sensor Networks

“…Paradiso and Starner [31] also provide the energy harvesting capabilities of different sources, shown in Table 2, slightly different from those suggested by Roundy [27]. Glynne-Fones and White [26], Qiwai et al [28], Sodano et al [29] and Mateu and Moll [30] summarized the basic principles and components of energy harvesting techniques, including piezoelectric, electrostatic, magnetic induction, and thermal energy. A common suggestion listed in these articles is the combined use of several energy harvesting strategies in the same devices so that the harvesting capabilities in many different situations and applications can be increased.…”

“…Several excellent articles reviewing the possible energy sources for energy harvesting can be found in the literature [25,26,27,28,29,30,31]. Fry et al [25] provides an overview of portable electric power sources that meet the US military special operation requirement.…”

Smart sensing, monitoring, and damage detection for civil infrastructures

“…Once the battery has consumed all of its power, replacement of the battery located remotely can become a very expensive and tedious, or even impossible task. Thus, many researchers in the SHM and sensing network community have shown interest in power harvesting, and have proposed alternative power sources such as sunlight, thermal gradient, human motion, and vibration (Glynne-Fones and White, 2001;Roundy, 2003;Qiwai et al, 2004;Sodano et al, 2004;Mateu and Moll, 2005;Paradiso and Starner, 2005). Among them, the solar and vibration energy is the strongest candidate for application to the civil infrastructures as shown in Mathuna et al, 2008).…”

Transpiration actuation: the design, fabrication and characterization of biomimetic microactuators driven by the surface tension of water

“…implies that any deformed shape of the spine will also have uniform radius of curvature (figure 3(b)). (5) The ribs are assumed to be rigid so that they do not store any deformation energy.…”

“…Devices that scavenge energy or perform work by utilizing energy already present in their environment are of interest to MEMS researchers [3]. Potential sources of ambient energy include, but are not limited to, vibrations [4] and wind [5]. The work presented here focuses on the use of environmental light or heat for evaporation-induced actuation driven by surface tension.…”